Ole Miss is benefiting from Caden Prieskorn's evolution from walk-on quarterback to tight end
The tight ends room quietly became one of the deepest among the skill positions for Ole Miss and a big part of it is the addition of Caden Prieskorn.
Getting the former Memphis tight end out of the transfer portal in the offseason helped bolster the Ole Miss offense for 2023 but becoming a reliable receiver and blocker was not how Prieskorn’s collegiate career started.
Prieskorn was a walk-on quarterback at Memphis but that quickly changed. There are always a handful of players who will see their position change after getting to college. Whether its a lineman shifting to a hybrid linebacker or a cornerback changing to a safety, but Prieskorn’s shift was a little more jarring.
Going from a high school quarterback to then having to learn an offense from the tight end perspective was an adjustment.
“It was very difficult at first being a 210-pound quarterback getting to college, walking on and you get there and put your hand in the dirt the first day not knowing anything,” Prieskorn said after Monday’s practice. “It’s been a long journey.”
That journey has taken Prieskorn to Oxford where he is set to make his Ole Miss debut next Saturday in the season opener against Mercer.
Fourth-year Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin brought Prieskorn in to become a pivotal part of the offense. Another aspect of it was to try and get Michael Trigg to up his game and provide one of the top tight end duos in college football.
Half of that is well on its way with Prieskorn. The other half of the equation is to be determined.
Related: Ole Miss has ‘restructured’ its tight ends room to where depth is no longer a worry for Lane Kiffin
In the eight months Prieskorn has been with the Ole Miss program he has already impressed teammates in the locker room.
The senior was voted onto the team’s leadership council by his Ole Miss teammates. A rarity in this new transfer portal era for a newcomer to make that big of an impact so quick at a new school.
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But Prieskorn is not surprised as he has had a certain mentality and work ethic dating back to the position change at Memphis.
“I feel like it’s just come from, basically, my story in the past,” Prieskorn said. “Just being a walk-on quarterback, waking on at Memphis and just working my way up. I feel like I had to do everything right to get to where I’m at today. I feel like I have a lot of that quarterback in me from my high school days. …I always got to do the right thing.
“I’m one of those people that like to lead by example. I always do the right thing on-and-off the field. I feel like that’s what helps me.”
Football has treated Prieskorn well in his career up to this point, but it was not the primary sport of choice in his family, but golf.
His family grew up on a golf course and both of Prieskorn’s parents played college basketball.
“Football was always third,” Prieskorn said. “It was always golf and basketball and then football. I just grew into loving football. I don’t know. I’d just get on little league teams and the camaraderie, there’s nothing better than football. I just fell in love with it. Each year I got better and better.”
