Seahawks’ second-year tight end 'unsung hero' for NFC champions

Kevin Patra of NFL.com put together a list of each NFL team’s “unsung/overlooked contributor” for the 2025 season, broken down into two pieces. The focus here is the NFC, and the conference’s recently-crowned champion.

The Seattle Seahawks will face the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium. Mike Macdonald’s team has won its last nine games, including playoff conquests of the rival 49ers and Rams. When it comes to this club’s “unsung hero,” it was a key component on Seattle’s much-improved offensive unit.

Tight end AJ Barner finished third on the team in receptions and second on the club behind All-Pro Jaxon Smith-Njigba in touchdown grabs.

“In Year 2,” explained Patra, “Barner became a key weapon in the top-seeded Seahawks offense, generating 52 catches for 519 yards and six touchdowns. Barner proved a pivotal outlet for Sam Darnold, particularly in high-leverage situations. Five of the tight end’s six touchdowns came in the red zone, and Darnold posted a 137.8 passer rating when targeting Barner inside the 20-yard line, second-best mark of all tight ends with at least 10 targets (behind only Tucker Kraft), per NGS.

“Barner generated a 12.9 percent success rate per route,” added Patra, “third-best among tight ends with at least 250 routes run, behind only George Kittle and Trey McBride. And let’s not forget about “the Barn Yard”—the tight end converted 10 of 11 attempts in short-yardage push plays, with one touchdown.”

The fourth-round pick in 2024 played in all 17 games as a rookie but made just six starts. He caught 30 passes, four for scores. Including the playoffs, Barner has started all 19 contests in 2025. In 34 regular-season contests in his two-year career, he’s totaled 82 receptions, 10 for touchdowns. The former Indiana (2020-22) and Michigan (2023) performer is Pro Football Focus’ 17th-ranked tight end this season, and is very much a player on the rise.

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