Michigan TE AJ Barner declares for 2024 NFL Draft
Michigan Wolverines football tight end AJ Barner is one and done in Ann Arbor. The Indiana transfer spent three years in Bloomington before playing his senior season with the Wolverines. Barner announced today that he’s headed to the 2024 NFL Draft, forgoing his final season of eligibility.
The 6-foot-6, 251-pounder started nine of 15 games and played the eighth-most offensive snaps (620) for the 15-0, national championship-winning Wolverines. He earned an All-Big Ten honorable mention nod, hauling in 22 receptions for 249 yards and 2 touchdown. He had five multi-catch outings.
The Aurora, Ohio, native edged out fellow starting tight end Colston Loveland, a sophomore, in offensive snaps. Loveland took 568 this past season. Barner led the country’s tight ends with an 82.2 overall PFF grade and 81.4 run-blocking rating (minimum 250 snaps), with that strength in his game being a big reason why he was able to log so much time.
The Michigan tight end was a team captain at Indiana in 2022. That season, he appeared in 10 games with eight starts, totaling 28 receptions for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns. He caught 14 passes for 162 yards and a score as a sophomore in 2021. He played in eight outings — mostly on special teams — but did not record any offensive statistics as a freshman in 2020.
Barner was a three-star recruit in the 2020 class, ranking as the No. 1,172 overall prospect, No. 53 tight end and No. 48 player in Ohio.
