Those two touchdowns bring Barner’s season total up to four, matching his total last season, and giving him eight touchdowns on 44 receptions over the span of 22 games. In other words, Barner has two more touchdowns in 22 games against NFL competition than he did in 45 games in the Big Ten.
“He brings a whole lot of energy,” said rookie receiver Tory Horton, who is tied with Barner for the team lead in touchdowns with four. “You can tell he loves the game, just the way he’s blocking, the way he’s maneuvering, getting open on routes, even his special teams play, that goes unseen sometimes. He has that dog in him. That’s what they be saying, he’s got that dog in him.”
For Barner, his production in the passing game is a product of the fit he found in Seattle that he never fully had at either of his stops in college.
“I think I’m just able to get open and get an opportunity, I feel like Seattle’s a great fit for me,” he said. “In the past, I always characterized my college career as, I was a misfit. I went to Indiana, I went to Michigan, didn’t really have all the things really work out for me, and when I came to Seattle, I was like, ‘All right, this is home, this is where I’m meant to be.'”
And while it would be easy for a player off to the start Barner is this season to want to call out his doubters, he admits it’s hard to do that since, at times, he put himself in that box as well.
“I honestly kind of chuckle at myself too,” Barner said when asked if he chuckles at those pre-draft evaluations. “You kind of put yourself in that box as well, you put limitations on yourself, and once you get out of your own way, like, I can be whoever I want to be in the league, that’s the biggest thing. It doesn’t matter what the outside noise says.”