Previously: Last year’s profiles, K Adam Samaha, K James Turner (Tr), S Brandyn Hillman, CB DJ Waller, CB Cameron Calhoun, CB Jyaire Hill, HSP/LB Jason Hewlett, LB Hayden Moore, LB Semaj Bridgeman, LB Ernest Hausmann (Tr), OLB Breeon Ishmail, DE Aymeric Koumba, DE Enow Etta, DE Josaiah Stewart (Tr), DT Brooks Bahr, DT Cameron Brandt, DT Trey Pierce, OT Evan Link, OT Myles Hinton (Tr), OT LaDarius Henderson (Tr), OG Nathan Efobi, IOL Amir Herring, OC Drake Nugent (Tr), TE Deakon Tonielli, TE Zack Marshall

Indiana Transfer (Hometown: Aurora, OH) – 6'6"/250
		247: 6'6/250                            4.11*	AS TRANSFER: 4*, 91 #7 TE, #78 Ovr
		On3: 6'6/230                            3.55*	AS TRANSFER: 3*, 87 #13 TE, NR Ovr
		Rivals: 6'2/260                            3.25*	AS TRANSER: 3*, 5.5 #16 TE, #540 Ovr
		Transfer Avg                            3.64*	3*, #407/795, #44/82 TEs since '90
		HS Composite                            3.49*	3*, #1147 Ovr #51 TE, #44 OH
		MGoAverage                            3.47*	3*, #713/798 Ovr #50/52 TEs since '90
		YMRMFSPA	Sean McKeon
Other Suitors	UCLA
Previously On MGoBlog	Portal In by yours truly
Notes	Jr/Sr eligibility. IU team captain.
Film:
Here's a quick look at the latest edition to the TE room: AJ Barner. 😯@_ajbarner_ x @UMichFootball pic.twitter.com/DYW0hoekAJ — Michigan On BTN (@MichiganOnBTN) December 21, 2022 2023 Spring Game. 2022 vs Rutgers. B10 Media Day interview. Senior HS film.

We're used to Michigan pointing at athletic tight end prospects in high school and that guy turning into a draftable player in a few years. What we haven't seen is whether the Michigan Effect works when they grab another Big Ten team's fourth-year player. Since the world's largest tight end factor lost Luke Schoonmaker, Erick All, Joel Hongiford, Carter Selzer, and Louis Hansen all in the same offseason, they were open to a portal addition, and AJ Barner was open to getting the hell out of Walt Bell Hell in Bloomington.

Walt Bell means an offense predicated on spreading the tight ends to maximum WR width and using them as quasi offensive linemen in a secondary or tertiary point of attack. This means we got a lot of tape of Barner trying to block defensive backs in space, and very little tight end work from the 2022 tape. For that we have to go back to 2021, or Michigan's spring game.

[After THE JUMP: Big Ten TE.]

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WHAT'S HIS STORY?

As you might imagine, an Ohio tight end that Indiana recruited wasn't a major prospect in high school. Nick Sheridan found him playing middle linebacker for Aurora as a junior, and committed to Ohio (not THAT Ohio State).

The Indiana assistant said it was pretty clear right away that Barner had the type of length and athletic ability that would allow him to play in the Big Ten. “I think he just had the measurables that we're looking for just from a just pure physical standpoint,” Sheridan said. “He's athletic and he can move and change direction.

He was a good linebacker, finishing All-Ohio in D-III with 100 tackles, 9 TFLs, 8 hurries, and two sacks, and some thought he might be a college DE. IU was certain he was a TE prospect for them, however, and Barner's other offers were all MAC and below.

RATINGS BY SITE
247: 6'5/225	Rivals: 6'4/217	ESPN: 6'4/225
3*, 87, NR Ovr #30 TE, #25 OH	3*, 5.5 not ranked	3*, 73, #173 MW #168 DE, #57 OH
3.67	3.40	3.28
COMPOSITE RANKINGS
247 Composite	On3 Consensus	MGoBlog
3*, 0.849, #1147 Ovr #51 TE, #44 OH	3*, 83.23, #1169 Ovr #53 TE, #48 OH	3*, #713/798 Ovr #50/52 TEs since 1990
3.49	3.32	3.47

Barner was still growing then too. Sheridan said the recruit was 6'3"/200 when he found him, and showed up in Bloomington at about 6'4"/215 pounds, having lost weight during the lockdown. The book on him was he needed to grow from receiver to tight end size. He did so in one summer.

We had to change some of his sizes for his gear because he got bigger, and he is still trim. He is long, athletic, and just a very well-rounded tight end that can run, block, and catch the ball. He picks things up quickly.

That was from October 2020, when his coaches started talking about playing him. There was a moment against Michigan State when Barner might have been ascending to second team but he only got another six snaps the rest of the year. In 2021 he won the 2nd spot behind Peyton Hendershot out of fall camp, starting one game (OSU) but playing in all of them.

Barner was every IU writer's pick for breakout star of 2022, and named a team captain despite being a redshirt sophomore. A foot injury against Nebraska cost him the Michigan and Maryland games and hampered him the rest of the season, as did the general tire fire that IU became. He entered the portal, visited just UCLA and Michigan, and picked the latter because duh (and he knew Hart).

The transfer rankers didn't think much of him, in some cases to absurdity, e.g. Rivals has him ranked one spot behind Louis Hansen, who's transferring to UConn. But after a solid spring game some of the people who cover CFB at large—namely Ian Boyd and Scott Fisher—think we picked up a steal.

THE FILM

I mostly did this from our spring game, since I can't get a great vibe from Barner's 2021 film (he was a RS freshman) and the 2022 Hoosier offense was mostly a gimmick.

Receiving:

Barner is big target who knows how find soft spots in zone and present a target. This is elemental but important stuff, e.g. how he downshifted here to extend the time for his QB to find him under the safety on a 4th & 5:

He gets into his routes smoothly and grinds out YAC.

Run Blocking:

Barner isn't super strong or muscular but he has good bend with a good base, good feet, and great length, which makes him more effective than you thought he was going to be, especially against DBs. He uses that length to good effect even from disadvantaged leverage. Here he knocked down McBurrows to give Orji a chance for a big play, then started moving downfield.

He gets movement when blocking down, whether he's doubling (got movement on Mason Graham here) or driving a LB into the dirt. Barner doesn't often win the first punch, but he wins a lot of blocks on the second effort with his length. The height can be a problem sometimes. Rayshaun Benny in particular was AJ Barner Kryptonite, what with Benny's long arms to neutralize Barner's one great advantage and racer's feet.

Barner has an advanced feel for doubling, and regularly gets down to linebackers in time to lock them out of the play. …He does seem to pick a target more than feel the play, which leads to whiffs or worse when he has to redirect.

You can see the influence of playing for Walt Bell's spread-to-fart offense, where Barner got a lot of opportunities to lock out DBs on WR screens. He has patience to track and make his block count, with plenty of athleticism to get there.

He also has a lot experience blocking Arc Reads (aka Bluff Reads), which require the tight end to kick out or pass up the EMLOS depending on whether that guy sets the edge. Again, Barner seems to know what he's doing and sticks with it, which is good when his QB is on the same page and a play-ruiner when the ballcarrier goes off-script.

THE GRADING

The Pro Football Focus charting is actually pretty meh. I didn't watch the WKU-IU game from last year, and that was the only time they had Barner staying in to help more than 5 times. None of his performances stood out save as a run blocker versus Purdue.

I'm pretty sure this explains the indifference from the sites. On3's Clayton Safie noted that 60 run blocking grade was higher than that of both Big Ten 2nd rounders Schoonmaker (55.7) and Sam LaPorta (53.1).

OTHER PEOPLE SCOUTING

None of the sites had Barner particularly high but 247's Allen Trieu thought Barner an important pickup.

Don't just look at the statistics there because coming into the year they thought he was going to be a huge piece of that Indiana offense. They just had trouble getting him the ball. But that's a super talented high upside guy there.

and Jared Kelly said Barner's "skillset and athleticism are intriguing." Clint Brewster's take doesn't match the ranking at all:

Barner is a physically imposing player at 6-foot-6, 252-pounds. He has both the strength and size to be a blocker and pass catcher. Barner had 28 catches for 199 yards and three scores in 2022. He played three seasons at Indiana and made some impressive catches in the red-zone, going up and getting the football over defenders. He can come in and immediately make plays for Michigan while also being a presence in the run game.

On3 was also going around saying their ranking was wrong, such as when Mike Huguenin used Barner to lead a list of more-important-than-you-think Big Ten transfers listicle.

Illinois writer Jeremy Werner, previewing the IU-UI game last year, called Barner a "big, athletic guy with good hands." Previewing the IU-M game, our friend Alejandro Zuniga thought Barner needed to block too often.

They’ve got some tight ends. AJ Barner is a talented guy, they just haven't gotten him the ball much, and I'm guessing some of that is because he has to stay in and block to help out the O-line.

IU previewers (including this one) tend to be the most optimistic but even that can't account for how much the people covering IU thought of Barner going into 2022. 247's Matt Weaver held back the most but only because he thought Barner was still building muscle.

Barner has great size at 6’6 and around 250-pounds, and as he showed against Idaho last fall when he turned a 22-yard reception into a 76-yard touchdown, he has the game kind of playmaking ability that the IU offense was lacking in 2021.

Barner was also Weaver's breakout pick for 2021, noting the size+athleticism=ceiling. Weaver's cohort Jared Kelly had Barner IU's #10 most important player for 2022, behind nine returning starters, because of the "requisite tools" to be a reliable go-to TE, noting Barner was finally up over 250 pounds.

He already has an innate toughness in him from his days as an All-State defensive player in high school, which bodes well for his ability to initiate contact and fearlessness in the open field with defenders barreling down on him. Barner's after-the-catch athleticism is also intriguing as he possesses sneaky top-end speed if he can get to the second and third levels of opposing defenses.

Also optimistic are new teammates, though the type of optimism can be telling. Like how Jack Tuttle called Barner "an absolute beast baller" on Jansen's podcast. Barner himself testified to his understanding of linebacking like Marisa Tomei:

“That comes from … I grew up my whole life playing defense. My dad was a middle linebacker. I always wanted to play defense. I didn’t think I’d play tight end at this level, but then I kept growing – ‘you’re too big to be a linebacker.’ I feel that aspect of that game, knowing the angles a linebacker has to take to get to the ball … then I also wrestled too growing up. So just the leverage it takes to block. Those little details.”

Barner used the word "enforcer" to describe his run blocking. Alex Drain noted that IU mostly trusted Barner to move the chains.

(Note that gfycat is going offline in a month—if you know of an alternative please tell me)

Finally I want to note Flyover Football's Ian Boyd, a Texas guy who lives in Ann Arbor and writes for us, who saw Barner in the spring game and decided this was the perfect match for JJ McCarthy. From Boyd's feature in HTTV:

Indiana routinely flexed the big Barner (6’6”/252 pounds) out into space and targeted him for goal line fades, screen passes, and more traditional middle-of-the-field tight end routes. In the Michigan system with superior schemes and quarterback play, his production could explode. He’s also a big body who’s capable of offering some of the double team heft and protection obstacles Michigan is losing from Schoonmaker and Honigford.

Etc. Al Barner, the fifth of his name. Barner and Tuttle were both captains for IU last year, which will be some good trivia down the line.

Why Sean McKeon? A 6'6"/215 Colby Fleener type who played some linebacker in high school and some thought might project to defense until he outgrew it. McKeon was an athletic, lanky skinny guy with good bend who grew into an effective H-back by his redshirt freshman year, and was on the cusp of the NFL after his redshirt sophomore year. Question with McKeon was burst out of his breaks, but he was good at finding spots in zone.

Guru Reliability: For a Big Ten starter transfer as low as you get? I mean, we've seen a lot of Barner, but he had an injury last year and played early despite being a high ceiling type. Also they're all way down on him in the rankings and way up when they talk about him.

Variance: Medium. He's probably going to be an okay tight end, but there's more of a chance than we realize of him being a star. Barner's reportedly up to 260 already.

Ceiling: High-minus. One for one replacement for Schoon.

Flight Risk Level: Medium. He's a redshirt junior but you have to figure the plan involves using Michigan to turn himself into a draft pick.

General Excitement Level: High. Baseline 5; +1 for already a Big Ten starter; +1 for was somebody else's captain; +1 for high ceiling; +1 for had a very good spring game; –1 for you'd think if he was a star IU would have gotten him the ball more regardless.

Projection: Michigan needed another tight end to pair with Colston Loveland and there was no drama about Barner seizing the second starting job ahead of classmate Matt Hibner, who's been at Michigan all this time. Word is Barner is now over 260, and his spring performance silenced a lot of doubt. He's going to be an upper-tier Big Ten tight end, but stats will be too hard to come by for all-Big Ten. Probably not a one-for-one replacement for Schoon, but I think he's certain to be at least the fifth-best transfer tight end of the year.