This NFL puzzle ran on Sep 10, 2026. The task was to connect Colby Parkinson to Nick Bosa with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a USC alum.” Par was 3 links. A search of the full player pool found a shortest chain of 2 links.
Colby Parkinson (TE) played in the NFL from 2020 to 2026. Career stops: the Seattle Seahawks (2020 to 2023) and the Los Angeles Rams (2024 to 2026). College: Stanford. 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.
Nick Bosa (DL) played in the NFL from 2019 to 2026. A one-team career, spent with the San Francisco 49ers (2019 to 2026). College: Ohio State. Honors in the dataset: Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive 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.
Colby Parkinson and Nick Bosa 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, 317 satisfy it. The best known are Troy Polamalu (SS, 2003 to 2014), Junior Seau (LB, 1990 to 2009), Marcus Allen (RB, 1990 to 1997), Brian Cushing (OLB, 2009 to 2017), Anthony Munoz (OL, 1990 to 1993), and Carson Palmer (QB, 2003 to 2017).
44 of those players share a team or college with Colby Parkinson, and 25 share one with Nick Bosa. The Finish is the tighter side, so it often pays to work backward from Nick Bosa.
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.