AJ Barner
Barner is Seattle's every-down starting tight end, but he's a low-volume, short-area target in an offense that runs through Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Role
He leads Seattle's tight ends in snaps. RotoWire noted he played 58 offensive snaps in Week 5, easily the most among the team's tight ends. FantasyData noted he was on the field for at least 80% of snaps in Weeks 1 and 2. His 2026 target log is 2, 1, 9, 3 and 5 for Weeks 1 through 5. RotoWire says most of his targets come underneath, and he has no receiving touchdown this season. His one touchdown was a one-yard rush in Week 2. RotoWire's depth list has Eric Saubert second and Elijah Arroyo third. Sumer Sports shows his 2026 target share at 8.3%, but that line looks incomplete: it shows 19 routes and 2 targets, which doesn't match the five games played. I did not fetch a live depth chart.
He is the unchallenged TE1 with a near-full-time snap share, and he has already shown a ceiling with 9 targets, 5 catches and 69 yards in Week 3, the game Sam Darnold returned. FantasyData read that as a sign he trends up with Darnold healthy. Opposing defenses also prioritized Smith-Njigba in that game, which pushed work to Barner. A tight end who plays that many snaps and scored six touchdowns last season can see touchdown regression upward.
He has been a non-factor in most weeks. NBC Sports called him exactly that after Week 5 and again after Week 4. RotoWire called him an unappealing option because Seattle's passing game funnels through Smith-Njigba and the other pass catchers get few targets. He has had three or fewer targets in three of five games. His work is short and underneath, so he depends on touchdowns. New offensive coordinator Brian Fleury was expected to use plenty of two-tight-end sets, which could eventually cut into his routes if Arroyo gets more work.
Where analysts split
The split is whether the Week 3 nine-target game was a repeatable result of Darnold's return and defenses focusing on Smith-Njigba, or a one-off. FantasyData leans toward a rising role. NBC Sports and RotoWire treat him as a minor part of the passing game. Whether Arroyo's snaps and routes grow in Fleury's two-tight-end sets is a second open question. I found no current report showing that has happened.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at TE
Fantasy Memo reads your league and answers that every Tuesday, and checks again before kickoff.
Connect your league: 14 days free