If there were such a thing as Division III fantasy football, Monmouth College lineman Korbyn Personett would be a hot commodity on the defensive side of the ball.

    The 6-foot-4, 240-pound pass rusher is a disruptive force, a fact opposing offenses in the Midwest Conference know all too well. Last fall, Personett broke Monmouth's single-season sack record, getting to the quarterback 16 times, and he's averaging a sack a game as the Fighting Scots are off to a 3-1 start.

    Up next for Monmouth is its stiffest MWC test to date. The Scots will visit the University of Chicago on Saturday. The Maroons are one of four teams tied atop the league, along with Monmouth, Lake Forest and Ripon. The latter two schools will meet Oct. 15.

    In Monmouth's 62-6 Homecoming game victory over Lawrence University on Saturday, Personett didn't record a sack, but he had a team-high three quarterback hurries. He leads the Scots in that category this season and is also tops on the squad with 6.5 tackles for loss.

    The Vikings surely had Personett on their scouting report, as the fifth-year senior recorded four sacks in the teams' matchup last year, resulting in 33 negative yards for Lawrence. He also forced a fumble in Monmouth's 42-0 victory.

    That Personett has racked up 21 career sacks in college football was not part of his original plan coming out of Pittsfield High School, where he starred in three sports for the Saukees. An all-stater in both basketball – where he also made the all-tournament team at the Macomb-Western Holiday event – and football, Personett chose baseball as his initial collegiate pursuit.

    That choice was made despite a memorable performance in the Illinois High School Shrine Game. He made 10 tackles and had not one, but two pick-sixes in the game, taking the second one 102 yards.

    "After that, all the guys were telling me I should play football in college, but I had a full ride to go juco," said Personett of his baseball scholarship at Lewis and Clark Community College.

    "We recruited him out of high school," said Monmouth head coach Chad Braun. "We tried like heck to get him up here at that time. He's just a tremendous athlete."

    Braun was in the stands for the Shrine game, making it even harder to forget about the one who got away.

    "(The next year) we heard through the grapevine that he might want to get back into playing football," said Braun. "We reached out to him again and he came for a visit in late spring (of 2019)."

    After a one-year delay, Braun had his man, but Personett's sack party did not start immediately. Rather, he had to pay his dues while players such as Monmouth's career sack leader, Thomas Lesniewski, and Lamar Watson starred on the defensive line.

    "It took time," said Braun. "It was not an overnight success story."

    Personett was used to dominating whatever sport he tried – since coming to Monmouth, he's also played lacrosse and thrown the javelin – but as he recorded just one sack in limited playing time in 2019, he realized a change was in order.

    "I needed to do something," he said. "I needed to get into the weight room."

    With football in 2020 canceled by the pandemic, Personett had two years to sculpt his body. When gridiron action resumed, he'd gained 40 pounds. Most of that is muscle, as he ranges from 12-14% body fat.

    The new-and-improved Personett made a big splash in the fourth game of the season against Lawrence and went on to earn first-team All-American honors during the Scots' 8-2 season.

    Personett points to last year's Lawrence game as a career highlight, and he also recalled a special moment from last year's Knox game.

    "After I made a sack, my senior teammates came up to me and started congratulating me," he said. "I'd forgotten all about the record. Then Coach Braun told me, 'You broke the record.'" 

    "It took Korbyn a while to come into his own," said Braun. "But now he's bigger, stronger and faster. He's much better now than he was as a young player."

    Personett was asked if knowing a team is facing third-and-long gets his pulse racing a little faster.

    "A little bit, but I'm pretty jacked up all the time when I'm on the field," he replied.

    That type of mentality comes from within Personett and has also been modeled by NFL stars such as Lawrence Taylor, T.J. and J.J. Watt, and Aaron Donald.

    "Lawrence Taylor was a straight beast on defense," said Personett. "I love it when people have that mentality and play mad all the time."

    Personett said his mental focus for the game is sharpened during the Scots' pre-game routine.

    "We pray as a team, and I just repeat to myself, 'They can't stop you. They can't stop you,'" he said. "I think, 'You're playing the game you love. Play as hard as you can.' Then Coach Braun speaks, and I just get chills up and down my spine."

    He has a plan in place to keep playing the game he loves even beyond this season, which is his fifth in college.

    "I'd like to be a pro athlete," said Personett, an exercise science major. "If I need to play at a lower level to help myself get better, we'll do that."

    He agreed that seeing former Scots quarterback Alex Tanney make it to the NFL "makes it feel like it's not impossible. And Coach Braun has let me know there's some interest from teams." 

    There's certainly a place in the NFL for athletic defenders who know how to get to the quarterback. If you own a fantasy football team, you might even have one of them on your roster. Korbyn Personett would like nothing better than to be in that conversation a year or two from now.