Field Gulls
The former Indiana and Michigan tight end showcased more than just his blocking skills in his rookie season with the Seahawks.
The Seahawks made a big change to their TE group in 2024. The team cut Will Dissly and let Colby Parkinson leave in free agency. In free agency, they signed Pharaoh Brown and drafted AJ Barner in the fourth round. Barner didn’t exactly shine in the statistics for Michigan or Indiana, never reaching 250 receiving yards in a season in his college career.
The Barner pick was interesting. I had him as a fifth-round prospect, so he didn’t come out much earlier than my projection. The funny thing is that he was drafted, in theory, for his blocking skills. But that’s not what made him stand out.
How far can he go in Year 2?
He didn’t receive a single target until Week 3 against the Dolphins. After that, he got at least one target in every game for the rest of the season, except for the matchup against the Chicago Bears.
Barner was efficient and effective when used in the passing game. Geno Smith seemed to trust him more and more as the season went on. Most telling of that trust and efficiency is the fact that Barner led the entire team in passer rating when targeted (119.0). For reference, Fant came in at 85.4.
At first glance, Barner’s receiving numbers are unimpressive, with 30 catches for 245 yards and 4 touchdowns. Noah Fant was certainly still the top tight end in the passing game in terms of receiving yards, with 48 catches for 500 yards. However, where Barner’s targets were scarce, he made up for it with high efficiency and good timing.
The former Wolverine seemed to make big catches in key moments time after time. In fact, he had just one fewer first down (18) on 37 targets than Ken Walker III, who had 15 more targets. Fant had 25 first downs on 62 targets. He was third on the team in receiving TDs (4) behind only DK Metcalf (5) and JSN (6).
In terms of blocking, Barner outperformed Fant. In run blocking, Barner received a 57.5 grade from PFF. Noah Fant ranked last on the team in run blocking grades at 42.3 and Pharaoh Brown, who Seattle brought in specifically to improve the blocking effort, had a 54.8.
In pass blocking, Barner also had an advantage of 56.8 to 34.5 and 43.4 in pass blocking grades compared to Fant and Brown, respectively. Barner never allowed a single pressure on the QB, while Fant allowed four and Brown one (1 hit).
In snaps, Barner trailed Brown in only two games: Dolphins and Bears. They tied in snaps in two games as well: Jets and Vikings. Compiling the offensive snaps of the three main TEs, we have: Fant (567), Barner (502) and Brown (263). It is worth noting that Barner played in every game while Brown missed Weeks 1 and 2 and...
