Krystopher Nathaniel Barnes (born April 2, 1998) is an American professional football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA, and originally signed with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2020.
_(cropped).jpg) Barnes with the Packers in 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 51 – Arizona Cardinals | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | April 2, 1998 Bakersfield, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 229 lb (104 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Liberty (Bakersfield, California) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | UCLA (2016–2019) | ||||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||||||||||||
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Early life
editBarnes was born and grew up in Bakersfield, California. He attended and played football at Liberty High School, along with childhood friend and future Green Bay Packers teammate Jordan Love. Together, Barnes and Love helped lead Liberty to the first Division I Central Section championship in school history.[1]
College career
editIn four seasons at UCLA, Barnes played in 43 games with 31 starts, recording 212 tackles (139 solo, 21 for loss), five sacks, and two interceptions.[2] Barnes was All-Pac 12 Conference honorable mention his senior season.[3]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1+3⁄4 in (1.87 m) |
229 lb (104 kg) |
31+5⁄8 in (0.80 m) |
9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) | |||||||||
| All values from Pro Day[4] | ||||||||||||
Green Bay Packers
editOn April 29, 2020, the Green Bay Packers signed Barnes to a three-year, $2.29 million contract as an undrafted free agent that includes a signing bonus of $7,000.[5][6]
Throughout training camp, Barnes competed to be a starting inside linebacker against Oren Burks, Ty Summers, and fellow rookie Kamal Martin. On September 5, 2020, the Packers waived Barnes as part of their final roster cuts, but signed him to the practice squad the next day after clearing waivers.[7][8] On September 12, 2020, the Green Bay Packers promoted Barnes to their active roster. Head coach Matt LaFleur elected to start Barnes at inside linebacker, alongside Christian Kirksey, to start the regular season.
He made his first career start and his professional debut in the Green Bay Packers’ season-opener at the Minnesota Vikings and recorded seven combined tackles (five solo) during their 43–34 victory.[9][10][11] On October 18, 2020, Barnes recorded ten combined tackles (seven solo) during a 38–10 loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 6.[12] In Week 7 against the Houston Texans, Barnes recorded his first career sack on Deshaun Watson during the 35–20 win.[13] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on November 6, 2020,[14] and activated on December 2.[15] In Week 15 against the Carolina Panthers, Barnes forced a fumble on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater at the one yard line that was recovered by the Packers during the 24–16 win.[16]
During the team's matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9, Barnes made a season-high 9 tackles,[17] including one that prevented a touchdown by running back Darrel Williams.[18] He signed his tender offer from the Packers on April 18, 2022, to keep him with the team.[19]
In the 2022 season-opener at the Vikings, he sustained ankle injury, which put him on injured reserve.[20] On November 5, 2022, he was activated off of injured reserve.[21]
Arizona Cardinals
editOn March 25, 2023, Barnes signed with the Arizona Cardinals.[22]
NFL career statistics
editRegular season
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Solo | Ast | Sck | SFTY | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TDs | FF | FR | ||||
| 2020 | GB | 13 | 10 | 80 | 49 | 31 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | GB | 16 | 13 | 81 | 58 | 23 | 1.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2022 | GB | 6 | 1 | 29 | 17 | 12 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 35 | 24 | 190 | 124 | 66 | 3.0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Source: pro-football-reference.com | ||||||||||||||||
Postseason
edit| Year | Team | GP | GS | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Solo | Ast | Sck | SFTY | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TDs | FF | FR | ||||
| 2020 | GB | 2 | 2 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | GB | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 3 | 3 | 20 | 12 | 8 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Source: pro-football-reference.com | ||||||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ Cunningham, Clay (April 27, 2020). "Krys Barnes ready to make a name for himself in Green Bay". Bakersfield.com. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ "Krys Barnes – Football". UCLA Bruins Athletics. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ "Pax 12 all conference awards announced". PAC 12. December 10, 2019. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019.
- ^ "2020 NFL Draft Scout Krys Barnes College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "Packers agree to terms with rookie free agents". Packers.com. April 29, 2020.
- ^ "Spotrac.com: Krys Barnes contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
- ^ "Breaking down the packers most notable roster cuts". Packers Wire. September 5, 2020.
- ^ "Packers announce practice squad". Fox News 11. September 7, 2020.
- ^ "Packers sign Krys Barnes to active roster". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports. September 12, 2020.
- ^ "Krys Barbers effective in starting role". CBS Sports. September 14, 2020.
- ^ "Krys Barnes". National Football League.
- ^ "Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – October 18th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ "Green Bay Packers at Houston Texans – October 25th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
- ^ "Packers place two players on reserve/COVID-19 list". packers.com. November 6, 2020.
- ^ "Packers activate LB Krys Barnes from reserve/COVID-19 list". Packers.com. December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
- ^ "Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers – December 19th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
- ^ "Packers' Krys Barnes: Makes season-high nine tackles".
- ^ "Krys Barnes prevents TD, blasts Darrel Williams out of bounds | Packers vs. Chiefs".
- ^ "Packers re-sign six as offseason program gets going". profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
- ^ "Packers sign T Caleb Jones to active roster". packers.com. September 13, 2022. Archived from the original on September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
- ^ "Packers activate LB Krys Barnes off injured reserve". packers.com. November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
- ^ Urban, Darren (March 25, 2023). "Krys Barnes Joins Cardinals Linebacking Corps". AZCardinals.com.