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Up to this point in his career at Indiana, AJ Barner has spent a lot of his time learning.

Coming from Auora High School in Ohio, Barner was a stud on the defensive side of the ball as he was named the Northeast Ohio Division III Defensive Player of the Year in 2019. Although he did reel in 15 catches for 123 yards and four touchdowns during his senior year at tight end, Barner would post 124 tackles on his way to a state semifinal appearance.

Despite his impressive defensive background however, Barner's primary focus has been on the offensive side of the ball since he's been in Bloomington.

For him, it's meant having the opportunity to learn from Peyton Hendershot, who graduated from Indiana to the NFL as Indiana's all time leader in receptions and receiving yards at the tight end position, and was a three-time All-Big Ten selection.

Yet still, Tom Allen believes Barner has a chance to be that much better.

"[He] has a chance to be the best tight end we've ever had at Indiana," Allen said back in May during an alumni event. "That's my prediction."

Allen isn't the only one with belief in Indiana's new TE1, however. In fact, Barner's biggest believer is himself.

Barner was one of three players to join Allen as a player representative for Indiana at Big Ten Football Media Days last week in Indianapolis. When asked about potential breakout candidates on offense this season, Barner did not hesitate in his answer.

"Yeah, I feel like myself first just because, you know, I wasn't a guy that was extremely highly recruited," Barner said. "I've made a couple plays here, but I feel like I'm just scratching the surface."

By that, Barner himself says that he's been a bit of a "late bloomer." Now, he has the opportunity to lean on his two years of knowledge, experience, and adjustments to the college game to carve out his own career and create an impact on the field.

"I feel like having a guy like Peyton Hendershot in front of me, just a proven guy, just to be able to learn from him," Barner said. "We got a couple other guys in the room that I could learn from, and also I feel like just my time that I played on offense and also on special teams was just a great opportunity. Just all that collectively, I feel like I'll have a big year this year and I'm ready to do that."

Barner's newfound opportunity and increase in playing time is met with a new offensive coordinator in Walt Bell. According to Barner, there's a lot to like about Bell's offensive scheme.

"I feel like this offense gives me a lot of opportunities to create," Barner said. "I think Coach Bell brings a lot of new things to the table. You know, he's a really experienced guy, he's been all over the place. He's also super young. I think the biggest thing with Coach bell is like, anytime we want to go up into the office and learn something new about football or game plan, he's just always cool with us coming up there. And, you know, even if we're not talking about football, he's just a really genuine dude, and I like him a lot."

From his selection to represent Indiana at Media Days alone, it's clear that Barner has the trust of his coach to be a leader on offense despite his relative youthfulness in that element of the game. One of the larger aspects of stepping into that role becomes being a constant steady voice with a clear focus on progress. Now, following a disappointing year in 2021, there are few things Indiana needs more than a focus on the future.

"I feel like we just have a clean slate, can press restart, and just a lot of guys that are hungry and they're eager for their new opportunity," Barner said. "Some guys have kind of flown under the radar for their career, and they're ready to show up."

Barner then took on the role of cheerleader, as he would go on to list a lot of the the guys he'll be lining up alongside this season as guys that are poised to take big steps forward. Auburn transfer Shaun Shivers, freshman Jaylin Lucas, JUCO transfer Cam Camper, and North Carolina transfers Emery Simmons and Josh Henderson are just some of the names Barner listed.

It wasn't just skill positions either, as Barner would show love to guys like Luke Haggard, Zach Carpenter, Matthew Bedford, Tim Weaver, and Mike Katic on the offensive line.

However many names Barner could've mentioned, the point remains that Barner doesn't see himself as the leader of a one-man band on offense.

Instead, he hopes to serve as the head of a pack of guys that can be the difference that creates a sharp turnaround from the offense of a year ago and lead Indiana back to winning ways.

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