What makes tight end a challenging position to play in Baker's offense?
- Story byNortheast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo
- What makes tight end a challenging position to play in Baker's offense?
OXFORD – Caleb Odom knows just how crucial the tight end position is to Ole Miss ' offense. And he's excited for the opportunity to play his part.
In his first year with the Rebels after transferring from Alabama , Odom converted from wide receiver to tight end and caught 19 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns, second on the team among tight ends behind Dae'Quan Wright. With Luke Hasz injured for part of the season, Odom took advantage of his opportunities.
Advertisement
But to label the 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior solely as a "tight end" doesn't do the Carrollton, Georgia native justice. He looks at himself as a versatile chess piece who moves into various spots and does just about everything.
"To be honest, I've kind of been everywhere. And I'm grateful for it, for sure," Odom said. "Just, my skill set I feel is definitely something that I take pride in, being able to play receiver, play outside, play inside, playing the tight end, block just like a 260-pound tight end can. So, I'm trying to take pride in being able to do all of that stuff."
Outside of quarterback, Rebels offensive coordinator John David Baker considers tight end the most challenging position to play in the offense. That's due in part to the need for the position to recognize things on the fly and have great feel for everything happening at the snap.
As the offensive coordinator at East Carolina last season, Baker's tight ends caught 51 passes for 695 yards and five touchdowns. Baker and current Rebels have said the 2026 offense is close to what Charlie Weis Jr. – now with Lane Kiffin at LSU – ran the last few seasons at Ole Miss, which also foretells significant tight end usage. In 2025, four combined Rebels tight ends caught 66 passes for 924 yards and nine touchdowns. In 2024, Wright and Caden Prieskorn caught 54 passes for 795 yards and seven scores alone.
Advertisement
Baker served on Kiffin's Ole Miss staff from 2021-23.
"Playing in this offense – the quarterback spot's obviously the most difficult – the next one in this offense is the tight end," Baker said. "We just put them in so many different spots. Sometimes we don't tell them exactly what to do, and they have to know by certain alignments (or) whatever. But those guys are doing a great job with just everything that we've put on them to this point."
Ole Miss has another deep tight end group this season, headlined by Hasz, who is now a senior and healthy, Odom, junior South Carolina transfer Michael Smith and junior Michigan transfer Brady Prieskorn, Caden's younger brother. It's "a unique room," according to Baker, that has various skills and "a lot of different body types."
"Everyone in the room is willing to work for it," Hasz said. "JDB, our offensive coordinator, does a great job giving us opportunity and chances to be weapons on first through third down. So I mean, the opportunities are endless. It's just how much we put in the work, and that they see it."
