Seahawks are sitting on a breakout star and the league has no idea

While many of the Seattle Seahawks' changes this offseason involve high-profile players such as quarterback Geno Smith and wide receiver DK Metcalf, perhaps the most important was a coaching change. Bringing in Klint Kubiak to be the new offensive coordinator should go perfectly with Mike Macdonald's defense.

In the past several seasons, Seattle had OCs who were far too pass-happy, but mostly targeted the wide receivers. The group of Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba was very good, but an offense needs versatility to reach maximum efficiency.

Kubiak is going to go with many more multiple tight end sets, and those tight ends should not only see more targets in the passing game, but with more developed route trees. This could lead to second-year pro AJ Barner having a surprisingly massive season.

Seahawks tight end AJ Barner might be ready to have a very productive 2025

Coming into the league after being drafted by the Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, the Michigan product was viewed as a good blocker who might not help much as a receiver. As a rookie, he hinted that it might not be the case moving forward. While not putting up huge numbers, he was efficient.

He caught 30 of his 38 targets, both numbers higher than anticipated at the beginning of the season, for 245 yards and four touchdowns. He did have three drops. 18 of his 30 catches went for first downs.

This all happened nearly accidentally because he was expected to fill in on obvious running downs, and show up minimally on passing downs. Now, in Kubiak's scheme that relies a lot more on tight ends, Barner's numbers could nearly double. Fellow tight end Noah Fant is in the final season of his current deal with the Seahawks, and rookie Elijah Arroyo is more of a pure receiver.

Barner is Seattle's most versatile tight end, and therefore, should see the most snaps. He isn't likely to get the kind of catches that Pro Bowl tight ends George Kittle and Travis Kelce do, but that does not mean that Barner is not extremely important to the Seahawks' offense.

His ability to catch will create plays that hurt defenses many times in 2025, and he will probably turn out to be the kind of receiver that defensive coordinators have to account for. He will do all this while becoming an even better blocker, and he was already an extremely effective one as a rookie.

While Seahawks such as defensive tackle Byron Murphy II and linebacker Tyrice Knight might get more media attention in their second seasons, Barner could be the type of glue player that every successful team needs. He might do that while having 60 catches, 700 yards receiving, and nearly 10 touchdowns in 2025.