Nick Saban Says Alabama 2013 Signee Darius Paige Medically Disqualified

Bad news doesn't come around often for Alabama, but even the best program in college football isn't immune to medical issues.

In his Friday press conference, head coach Nick Saban revealed that freshman defensive tackle Darius Paige has been medically disqualified, per Cecil Hurt of TideSports.com on Twitter:

Marquavius Burnett of The Anniston Star elaborated a bit more on the situation in this tweet. 

Apparently, Paige wasn't able to pass his physical.

That's disappointing news on a few levels, but it's especially sad for the young man. According to Andrew Gribble of AL.com, Paige reportedly went through a long process to be deemed academically eligible by the NCAA, so it appears as if all of that work was for naught, at least from a football perspective.

ESPN's Alex Scarborough tweeted that Paige is working with the training staff, but at this point it is not clear what part of the physical the 6'4'', 314-pound freshman failed.

The bad news for Alabama is that the Crimson Tide could have used Paige's size and the depth he would have afforded them. 

The good news? Alabama still has a great freshman it can plug in at nose tackle.

While 5-star 2013 commit A'Shawn Robinson was ranked as an offensive lineman, according to 247Sports, he can also play defensive tackle. Robinson is big enough to play the nose at 6'5'', 302 pounds, and he has the skill set to be productive at the college level.

it's good to have Robinson on the depth chart behind junior Brandon Ivory and sophomore Darren Lake, but it would have been better to have Paige as part of that group.

According to the 247Sports composite rankings, Paige was the No. 14 defensive tackle in the 2013 class and No. 8 player from the state of Alabama.