The Seattle Seahawks have a potential rising star in their ranks, and it's a man they drafted to be a blocking tight end. AJ Barner, a fourth round selection in the 2024 NFL draft, has been proving himself to be an absolute steal for the Seahawks. For years, Seattle has not had much production from their tight ends. And by "years" I basically mean nearly all 50 of them, as the Seahawks have not historically been a great tight end team. The fact Jimmy Graham is statistically the best one they've ever had during his three years in the Pacific Northwest basically says it all.
But perhaps they have something truly special in AJ Barner, and I may not be the only one noticing it. The official Sleeper twitter account tweeted out they wouldn't be surprised
if Barner had a breakout season. Honestly? I wouldn't either. Why not? Barner has only improved in each of his two years in the league.
As a rookie, Barner hauled in 30 receptions for only 245 yards, but had four touchdowns. At one point, he matched veteran tight end Noah Fant for touchdowns scored as a Seahawk in one year as Fant had done in all three with Seattle. Fant did end with five, but the last one came in a meaningless Week 18 game where the Rams were sitting all their starters.
Last season, Barner improved across the board. He started all 17 regular season games, and all three playoff games as well. His receptions in the regular season jumped from 30 to 52, he more than doubled his yardage with 519, and scored two more touchdowns to end the year with six. In the playoffs, he scored Seattle's only offensive touchdown in Super Bowl LX.
So why can't he improve further!? The Seahawks' offense is now led by offensive coordinator Brian Fleury. Although he is a rookie play caller, there's no reason to not have hope that he'll be good at his job... especially when it comes to Barner's output. Fleury comes from the San Francisco 49ers where he was the tight ends coach since 2022. Hmm, remind me, how good is their tight end play? Even without George Kittle, that has been one of their most productive positions.
AJ Barner has proven to be a reliable target in the passing attack, and that will likely only continue with Sam Darnold, who certainly tends to favor his top options. Should Barner continue his upward trajectory in 2026, don't be surprised at how high the Wolverine-turned-Seahawk can soar.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks TE AJ Barner could be in store for breakout 2026 season
