This NFL puzzle ran on Aug 31, 2026. The task was to connect Blake Bortles to Jayden Daniels with a chain of real players. The objective: “Only use players who wore the number 5. (Please don't sue us, Jayden.)” Par was 3 links. A search of the full player pool found a shortest chain of 2 links.
Blake Bortles (QB) played in the NFL from 2014 to 2021. Career stops: the Jacksonville Jaguars (2014 to 2018), the Los Angeles Rams (2019 to 2020), the Denver Broncos (2020), the Green Bay Packers (2021), and the New Orleans Saints (2021). College: UCF. 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.
Jayden Daniels (QB) played in the NFL from 2024 to 2026. A one-team career, spent with the Washington Commanders (2024 to 2026). College: LSU and Arizona State. Honors in the dataset: Offensive Rookie of the Year. 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.
Blake Bortles and Jayden Daniels 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 themed-roster objective. Every player in the chain has to come from the small pool the puzzle names.
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.
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