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DeVante Kincade announced that he's transferring from Ole Miss

Buried in the depth chart and wanting to be closer to his family, the backup quarterback took to Instagram on Monday night to bid Rebel fans goodbye.

By Jeff Gray
Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

So in a not at all surprising development, backup Ole Miss quarterback DeVante Kincade announced through Instagram on Monday night that he's transferring. He didn't say where he's heading, just that it will be closer to his home state of Texas.

On the surface, it's easy to assume that this is because of his spot on the depth chart. Kincade finished the preseason quarterback competition a distant third behind Chad Kelly and Ryan Buchanan, and despite Freeze's history of playing athletic backup QBs in packaged plays, he's attempted just 15 garbage-time passes in 2015. Even if Chad were to enter the 2016 NFL Draft, Kincade would still probably end up behind Buchanan and incoming five-star Shea Patterson next season.

There were rumors back in September that Kincade came very close to transferring after falling out of the QB competition, so I think a lot of us already expected this.

But this move seems to be about more than just playing time. In his post, Kincade said that moving closer to home would mean "I could take care of my mom." Before you roll your eyes and brush that off as an excuse, remember that DeVante's brother tragically died in October.

"I will never forgot the people that gave me advice through my tough times being away from home when I was loosing close ones," Kincade wrote in his announcement.

Here's the full text from that Instagram post, by the way:

I just wanted to thank god and the university of Mississippi for the opportunity to get a education, chase my dream and grow as a man. I ran into people and built relationship with people that I will never forget and memories that I will go back in time and do it all over again, But I am Transferring some where closer to Tx. And I could take care of my mom. I found Christ here at Olemiss by far the best achievement Of my life and I will never forgot the people that gave me advice through my tough times being away from home when I was loosing close ones. But Thank you @olemissathletics and #rebelNation for the support y'all are the best Travel everywhere !!!! To see the Rebs

Back to the depth chart: it should be just fine. If Chad sticks around, Buchanan and Patterson (who told me in an interview on Tuesday morning that his commitment to Ole Miss is "solid") will compete for the No. 2 job, with current freshman Jason Pellerin perhaps factoring in. If Chad takes off, it'll be interesting to see if Freeze gives Patterson a shot a the starting job or if he tabs Buchanan while Shea learns the system.

In any event, best of luck to Mr. Switchblade. We'll always remember him for his bad ass nickname and this awesome cover letter he attached to his letter of intent on Signing Day 2013.