Who Should I Start? AJ Barner or Elijah Arroyo

Monday, October 13, 11:29 AM

Seattle Seahawks tight end AJ Barner saw his production dip slightly in Sunday's 20-12 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was still effective even on minimal work. Barner caught a career-high seven passes in Week 5, but drew only three targets against Jacksonville (3/71). Despite the downtick, the 23-year-old placed second in yards, receptions, and looks to target hog teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and remains an intriguing fantasy play. While the touchdowns can't be counted on every week, Barner is far and away the snap leader at his position, and the clear third target on the team behind Smith-Njigba and veteran Cooper Kupp. Fantasy managers can't expect weekly consistency quite yet with diminished target totals, but the Michigan alum is an excellent streaming option and is slowly rising up the dynasty ranks.

Saturday, October 4, 9:16 AM

Seattle Seahawks tight end Elijah Arroyo has seen his snap share increase in each of the first four weeks of the 2025 NFL season, and he could continue to get even more involved in Week 5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The rookie is coming off the best week of his young career, in which he caught two of four targets for 44 yards on a 55 percent snap share. With that said, he's still the No. 2 tight end in Seattle behind AJ Barner, who has two touchdowns this season and has played at least 85 percent of the snaps in three of four games. Nevertheless, even with Barner present, Arroyo has shown that he can carve out a modest role for himself -- and perhaps start to generate some low-end fantasy appeal in deeper leagues, too. This could be a decent week for Arroyo as the Buccaneers' defense is merely near the middle of the league, allowing the 16th-most fantasy points to tight ends in 2025.