As the calendar turns and the list of teams in the playoff hunt slowly burns, the Seattle Seahawks look to be one of the legit Super Bowl contenders on the ledger. How will Mike Macdonald handle his postseason
debut as head coach? He’s seemed very prepared and resourceful every step of the way up until this point.
We’ve been witness to the new regime attacking and solving things like the run defense, the middle linebacker position, tackling issues, a deep threat, an offensive guard, etc.
The next frontier of improvement for this Seahawks team looking to make a run, is offensive production. The defensive side of the ball has proven championship-caliber, but the offensive output has slowed since Sam Darnold and Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s fast start to the year. Compared to the first ten weeks of the season, Seattle’s explosive play rate since (12.3%) has dropped by 23%. Darnold tossed 6 interceptions to the Rams alone in that time period!
How can the Seahawks jump start this offense?
Inevitably, if you have one superstar that you rely on heavily, say someone like the world-class Jaxon Smith-Njigba, teams will start to make more of an effort to take that weapon away. Do you have other threats on offense to make them pay for this tactic?
Squads understand that it is a long season and that they need to be playing some of their best ball leading up to the playoffs. I think the trade for Rashid Shaheed was one step to keep the offense fresh and less reliant on the league’s leading receiver in JSN. He is starting to get more and more involved… but there’s another player that has been lowkey balling when given the chance.
Against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, tight end A.J. Barner put up his second straight game of being 2nd on the team in targets, gaining 40+ yards and scoring a touchdown. All of his catches were clutch and he earned the 2nd-highest grade from PFF of any Seahawks player on offense (82) in Week 17.
This is a week after making key blocks against the Los Angeles Rams’ dynamic edge duo, scoring a TD that led to a game-tying 2-point conversion and making a big 5-yard gain in the red zone to help beat LA in overtime. A.J. Barner feels like more of a drive-to-drive factor as the season goes on.
I remember telling a friend last year (A.J.’s rookie year) that Barner is a well-kept secret and will be our TE of the future. Then Seattle drafted a “real receiving threat” in Elijah Arroyo that sure made me back off of Barner in fantasy football. All AJB did was went ahead and put a choke hold on his position atop the depth chart at tight end this year.
Who saw the big boy becoming Seattle’s weapon of choice in tush push scenarios, even with Jalen Milroe present? The Barn Yard lives!
The man child has over 500 yards and 6 TD’s (the 4th-highest total among TE’s) in an offense that prioritizes his prodigious blocking skills. Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the 10th-best run blocking tight end (61 grade in this category). One beautiful thing that has happened recently is that the Seattle Seahawks have accrued over 160 yards rushing in each of the last two games (vLAR, @CAR).
When asked about this production spike on the ground, AJ Barner said: “It’s huge”. He went on to assert that, “you’ve got to be able to run the ball, a run game travels. We’ve got to keep toting the rock, and shout out to the backs for hitting it, and the O-line. That’s the expectations, we’ve got to run the rock”. Boy, that’s something you love to hear your tight end saying!
Barner is 4th among all TE’s in catch percentage (76.92%, min. 50 catches) and 6th in total EPA at the position. The numbers are impressive, even if the volume isn’t. That’s ok, but playoff foes need to know that he’s a threat if they want to sell out to stop JSN.
A.J. Barner said that the lack of respect for his game fuels him. He plays with a chip on his shoulder as a 4th-round pick who was labeled as just a blocking guy. That chip is one that even opponents can sense. He drew attention and fire from Jared Verse and held his own. Against both the Rams and the Panthers Barner blocked his tail off, fought for YAC and made the most of his featured plays.
We should look forward to that chip continuing to help fuel this offense as well. Mike Macdonald said that “A.J. Barner was really a spark plug for us on offense.” He further explained that, “He’s a spark plug, and a catalyst for our offense. I know Klint wants to give him the ball more.” It didn’t end there! Coach said that “we feed off of him, we need him, he’s a great player,” and at one other point in the media availability described Barner as similar to “an extra tackle out there”.
High praise from the head coach there. It’s also a sign of respect when you’ve got other offensive innovators recreating one of your greatest hits:
For his part, when asked about the impending showdown with the Niners for the NFC’s #1 seed, Barner (rocking a Mariners cap) simply said “vibes are high … We’re ready for a battle.”
Aura indeed, aura indeed. Now we’re going to need to expect it every game.
