OXFORD — College has been quite the ride for Ole Miss senior tight end Caden Prieskorn.
Prieskorn began his football career as a quarterback and didn’t become a tight end until he walked on at Memphis. After redshirting his first season and catching a combined seven passes over his first two years with the Tigers, Prieskorn broke out in 2022, hauling in 48 passes for 602 yards and seven touchdowns. He entered the transfer portal as a highly-sought after player and landed at Ole Miss.
In two seasons with the Rebels, the 6-foot-6, 255-pounder from Lake Orion, Michigan has 54 catches for 824 yards and seven touchdowns. He was the offensive MVP of last year’s Peach Bowl, where he had a career-best 10 catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the Rebels’ 38-25 win over Penn State. Prieskorn will suit up one last time in his college career on Jan. 2, when the No. 14 Rebels (9-3, 5-3 SEC) face Duke (9-3, 5-3 ACC) in the Gator Bowl. The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.
“It’s kind of been pretty crazy. It’s been a pretty cool journey. A lot of ups and downs,” Prieskorn said. “Being a walk-on and working your way up, then transferring. Then other stuff, like getting hurt, then losing my dad. It’s been such an up and down rollercoaster. But I’m so thankful for everybody in this building, everybody that I’ve came across throughout my journey in college football. And I’m just blessed.”
Prieskorn, along with nearly every other NFL Draft-eligible player on the Rebels’ roster, is playing in the Gator Bowl. That includes projected first-round defensive tackle Walter Nolen and likely high-draft picks like defensive ends Princely Umanmielen and Jared Ivey, cornerback Trey Amos and quarterback Jaxson Dart. By all accounts, there weren’t many conversations to be had on the topic.
While the 2024 season hasn’t gone perfectly — the Rebels were ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP Poll and spent most of the season in the College Football Playoff hunt, ultimately coming up just short — Ole Miss’ veterans are determined to make sure their college careers end on a high note.
“It’s our last time really getting to throw on an Ole Miss jersey … we just want to play together as a team,” Prieskorn said. “ … All of us really just want to go out there and ball, honestly, and just show everybody who we are as a team and who we are as an individual.”
Former LSU safety commits to Ole Miss
Former LSU safety Sage Ryan — who started nine games for the Tigers in 2024 and has made 21 starts in his college career — has committed to Ole Miss, On3’s Hayes Fawcett reported Friday. Ryan is rated as a three-star transfer by 247Sports.
Ryan made 42 total tackles for LSU in 2024 and intercepted a pass. He also broke up six passes, forced three fumbles and had a sack.
Fawcett also reported Friday that former Grambling State linebacker Andrew Jones has committed to Ole Miss after previously committing to South Carolina. Jones was named the SWAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2024. He made 122 tackles this season, including 20.5 for loss.
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