Linkster

Today's Linkster #35 · NFL

Budda Baker to Derek Carr

On Monday, October 5, 2026, everyone playing the NFL Today's Linkster got the same two players: get from Budda Baker to Derek Carr in as few links as possible. Par was 4, counted through colleges, but any shared college, jersey number or team counted as a move.

The two players

  • Budda Baker (S, 2017–2026) College: Washington. Team: Arizona Cardinals. Numbers: #3, #32 and #36.
  • Derek Carr (QB, 2017–2024) College: Fresno State. Teams: Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints. Number: #4.

Seasons 2017–2026. Jersey numbers and teams only count from seasons in that range.

How it went

2 players solved it on the day. 2 beat par with a shortcut, and 2 matched or beat it in all. The winning run was Huk's: 2 links in 1:07.4.

The answer

Show a shortest route

Through colleges alone it takes 4, which is par:

  1. Budda Baker
  2. Washington Puka Nacua
  3. BYU Kingsley Suamataia
  4. Oregon Evan Williams
  5. Fresno State Derek Carr

With every kind of link counting, it could be done in 2:

  1. Budda Baker
  2. #32 · Arizona Cardinals Tyrann Mathieu
  3. New Orleans Saints Derek Carr

This day was rebuilt from later player data, so the route above may differ slightly from the original.