This NFL puzzle ran on Aug 15, 2026. The task was to connect Gennings Dunker to Steve Atwater with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a South Carolina alum.” Par was 3 links.
Gennings Dunker (OL) played in the NFL during the period The Chains covers. College: Iowa. As the Start of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Steve Atwater (DB) played in the NFL from 1990 to 1999. Career stops: the Denver Broncos (1990 to 1998) and the New York Jets (1999). College: Arkansas. As the Finish of the chain, a household name like this gives you a lot of teammates to branch from, which makes it a friendly place to begin.
Gennings Dunker and Steve Atwater do not share a team or a college, so there is no direct link. You need at least one connector in between, and the objective decides which ones are allowed to count.
This was a college objective. The chain has to pass through a player from the named school at some point, not necessarily as a link to the Start or Finish. Of the 17,973 players in the pool, 184 satisfy it. The best known are Stephon Gilmore (CB, 2012 to 2024), Jadeveon Clowney (OLB, 2014 to 2026), John Abraham (LB, 2000 to 2013), Sterling Sharpe (WR, 1990 to 1994), Melvin Ingram (OLB, 2012 to 2023), and Johnathan Joseph (CB, 2006 to 2020).
0 of those players share a team or college with Gennings Dunker, and 23 share one with Steve Atwater. With one side that thin, the route has to be built outward from the other end.
One shortest chain found by searching the full player pool, preferring the best known names at every step:
Many other chains work. Scoring rewards lower-profile connectors, so the best-known route is rarely the highest scoring one.
Want more? Browse the full NFL puzzle archive, read the strategy guides, or see how scoring works on How to Play.