This NFL puzzle ran on Oct 27, 2026. The task was to connect Zaven Collins to Heath Miller with a chain of real players. The objective: “Your chain must include a North Carolina alum.” Par was 3 links.
Zaven Collins (LB) played in the NFL from 2021 to 2026. A one-team career, spent with the Arizona Cardinals (2021 to 2026). College: Tulsa. 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.
Heath Miller (TE) played in the NFL from 2005 to 2015. A one-team career, spent with the Pittsburgh Steelers (2005 to 2015). College: Virginia. 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.
Zaven Collins and Heath Miller 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, 202 satisfy it. The best known are Julius Peppers (DE, 2002 to 2018), Lawrence Taylor (LB, 1990 to 1993), Robert Quinn (DE, 2011 to 2022), Dre' Bly (DB, 1999 to 2009), Greg Ellis (DL, 1998 to 2009), and Eric Ebron (TE, 2014 to 2021).
14 of those players share a team or college with Zaven Collins, and 11 share one with Heath Miller. The Finish is the tighter side, so it often pays to work backward from Heath Miller.
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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