AJ

Barner

Barner continues to be a non-factor in the Seahawks’ passing game. Outside of a Week 3 game against the Commanders in which he went for 5-69-0 on nine targets, Barner has totaled 53 yards in his other four games combined and has yet to find the end zone this season. Barner won’t be on the streaming radar in Week 6, even with four teams on bye.

After a solid effort against the the Commanders where he caught five passes for 69 yards, Barner was once again a non-factor in this one. The 24-year-old is clearly the top tight end in the passing attack, but outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the rest of the options just haven’t done much. He’ll be a boom or bust TE1 for Week 5 against the 49ers.

It was easily Barner’s best receiving day of the year, although he was unable to find the end zone. His nine targets were second on the team behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 14, and it’s clear he and Sam Darnold have more of a connection than he did with Drew Lock. Barner will be on the TE1 precipice for Week 4 against the Chargers, but this was encouraging.

Up 24-7 on 4th-and-goal with just over three minutes left in the game, the Seahawks started a fresh set of downs from the Cardinals’ three-yard line. Both RB George Holani and RB Emanuel Wilson were given chances to punch it in before Seahawks OC Brian Fleury dialed up a Tush Push play for Barner on 4th-and-goal. Barner jumped up and across the line, bringing his fantasy stat line from something unusable to something we can live with. He remains a boom-bust TE1 against the Commanders next week. Seahawks TE2 Elijah Arroyo nabbed a 17-yard pass on a post route, but that was it for him. So far, the Seahawks’ reported uptick in usage for the tight end position has not panned out.

Barner also had a tush push attempt that was called back by a penalty. With Jaxon Smith-Njigba soaking up 11 targets on just 24 team pass attempts, there wasn’t much volume to go around for the rest of the Seattle pass-catchers. Barner only topped four catches in 20 combined regular and postseason appearances last year. If Week 1 is any indication, he won’t be putting up big box scores very often this season either. He will barely crack the TE2 ranks when Seattle takes on Arizona next week.

The Seahawks’ starting tight end is firmly on track to play in the 2026 season opener on Wednesday night. Barner is reportedly set to handle a bigger role than he did last year, when he finished as the PPR TE14. He can only be viewed as a borderline TE1/2 early on, though.

Destin notes that new Seahawks OC Brian Fleury served as the 49ers’ TE coach for four seasons “and is expected to feature the position prominently.” Aside from that, and an increase in shifts and motion, he thinks the offense is “going to look very similar” to last year. Barner underwent two offseason surgeries, one of which was to address a nagging ankle injury that Barner said he initially suffered during the 2024 Senior Bowl before the Seahawks drafted him. After turning in the PPR TE14 performance last season, Barner might have a shot to crack the position’s top 12.

Fowlers said the team expects Barner to be more involved as a pass catcher in 2026 after recording 52 receptions for 519 yards and six touchdowns last season (while being targeted on 19 percent of his routes). Barner, following multiple offseason surgeries to clean up nagging injuries, is fully healthy and ready for a more prominent role in Seattle’s offense. New Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury, meanwhile, is expected to use plenty of two tight end sets in 2026, meaning TE Elijah Arroyo could see an increase in snaps and routes. Barner has a little bit of extra hidden upside as the Seahawks’ primary tush push option near the goal line.

Barner was listed with calf, elbow and hip injuries last season. We don’t know which ailments required surgery. Barner said he is “definitely feeling better,” but he still has a few hurdles to clear before he can back out there. Barner finished as the PPR TE14 last season, operating as a big-bodied target for QB Sam Darnold and as the Seahawks’ tush push specialist in short-yardage situations.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts fumbled on a tush push attempt in Philadelphia’s 24-15, Week 13 loss to the Bears. He told reporters after the game that it is “becoming tougher and tougher” to run the play. Teams are having more success against it, defensively, than they did previously, while others have begun successfully running it themselves. Several teams turned to using it with tight ends, most notably Seahawks TE AJ Barner moonlighted as a tush push quarterback this season. Barner picked up one touchdown and nine first downs on 11 rushing attempts across the full NFL season. Connor Heyward (Steelers) and Cade Stover (Texans) also ran the play a non-trivial amount of times in 2025. It is still possible for teams to submit a ban proposal, but at this point, McKay does not “envision it” happening this offseason.