This NFL puzzle ran on Sep 2, 2026. The task was to connect Micah Parsons to Devin Lloyd with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a South Carolina alum.” Par was 3 links. A search of the full player pool found a shortest chain of 2 links.
Micah Parsons (LB) played in the NFL from 2021 to 2025. Career stops: the Dallas Cowboys (2021 to 2024) and the Green Bay Packers (2025). College: Penn State. Honors in the dataset: Defensive Rookie of the Year. 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.
Devin Lloyd (LB) played in the NFL from 2022 to 2026. Career stops: the Jacksonville Jaguars (2022 to 2025) and the Carolina Panthers (2026). College: Utah. 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.
Micah Parsons and Devin Lloyd 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).
18 of those players share a team or college with Micah Parsons, and 36 share one with Devin Lloyd. The Start is the tighter side, so working forward from Micah Parsons narrows the options fastest.
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.