A.J. Barner, Wolverine

A.J. Barner, Wolverine

December 21, 2022
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A.J. Barner

Former Indiana tight end A.J. Barner committed to transfer to Michigan. Originally out of Aurora (OH) Aurora, Barner spent the past three seasons in Bloomington and has two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Barner is listed at 6’6″ and 250 lbs. He had 28 catches for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns this past season. As a redshirt freshman in 2021, he caught 13 balls for 160 yards and 1 score.

RANKINGS (2020)
ESPN: 3-star, 73 grade, #168 DE
On3: N/A
Rivals: 3-star TE, 5.5 grade
247 Sports: 3-star, 87 grade, #30 TE

Hit the jump for more.

Barner was named a captain for the Hoosiers this past season, but Michigan fans did not see him play against the Wolverines in 2022, because he had an injury that caused him to miss a couple games. After entering the transfer portal following the season, rumblings started to come out that he would be interested in Michigan. It made sense for Jim Harbaugh’s squad to pursue an experienced player or two, because they lost Erick All (Iowa), Louis Hansen (transfer), Luke Schoonmaker (NFL), Joel Honigford (graduation), and walk-on Carter Selzer (graduation) from the tight end room. All and Schoonmaker were pretty comparable starters, and Honigford was essentially a starting blocking tight end.

Barner is tall and lean at 6’6″ and 250 lbs. He has good speed and almost looks like he could add some weight to his frame. Indiana decided to use him split out in the slot quite a bit, or he would line up off the line as an H-back. He can make some nice adjustments to the ball in the air, and he has shown the ability to go up and make contested catches.

My main question about Barner is how he will hold up in the run game. He is not the most physical blocker in the split zone game, and Michigan uses its tight ends in a variety of ways at the point of attack. It may benefit him to add some weight/strength by working with Ben Herbert and diversify his game a little bit.

Overall, I like the pickup of Barner and I think he should slide into a quasi-starter role. He and rising sophomore Colton Loveland should make a nice one-two punch at tight end, at least when it comes to catching the ball; other guys may need to step up to play more on the line of scrimmage.

Tight end depth now looks something like this for 2023:

TE: Colston Loveland (So.), A.J. Barner (RS Jr.), Matt Hibner (RS Jr.), Max Bredeson (RS So.), Marlin Klein (RS Fr.), Zack Marshall (Fr.), Deakon Tonielli (Fr.)

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