List of San Francisco 49ers starting quarterbacks

These quarterbacks have started at least one game for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. They are listed in order of the date of each player's first start at quarterback for the 49ers.

Starting quarterbacks

Jimmy Garoppolo (2017–2022)
Nick Mullens (2018–2021)
C. J. Beathard (2017–2021)
Blaine Gabbert (2015–2016)
Colin Kaepernick (2012–2016)
J. T. O'Sullivan (2008)
Shaun Hill (2007–2009)
Alex Smith (2005–2007, 2009–2012)
Steve Young (1987–1999)
Joe Montana (1979–1990)
John Brodie (1957–1973)
Y. A. Tittle (1951–1960)

The number of games they started during the season is listed to the right in parentheses.

Regular season

Season(s) Quarterback(s)
1946 Frankie Albert
1947 Frankie Albert
1948 Frankie Albert
1949 Frankie Albert
1950 Frankie Albert (12)
1951 Frankie Albert (11) / Y. A. Tittle (1)
1952 Frankie Albert (7) / Y. A. Tittle (5)
1953 Y. A. Tittle (10) / Jim Powers (2)
1954 Y. A. Tittle (11) / Jim Cason (1)
1955 Y. A. Tittle (12)
1956 Y. A. Tittle (8) / Earl Morrall (4)
1957 Y. A. Tittle (11) / John Brodie (1)
1958 Y. A. Tittle (6) / John Brodie (6)
1959 Y. A. Tittle (10) / John Brodie (2)
1960 John Brodie (8) / Y. A. Tittle (4)
1961 John Brodie (14)
1962 John Brodie (14)
1963 Lamar McHan (9) / John Brodie (3) / Bob Waters (2)
1964 John Brodie (12) / George Mira (2)
1965 John Brodie (13) / George Mira (1)
1966 John Brodie (13) / George Mira (1)
1967 John Brodie (10) / George Mira (2) / Steve Spurrier (2)
1968 John Brodie (14)
1969 John Brodie (10) / Steve Spurrier (4)
1970 John Brodie (14)
1971 John Brodie (14)
1972 Steve Spurrier (9) / John Brodie (5)
1973 John Brodie (6) / Steve Spurrier (5) / Joe Reed (3)
1974 Tom Owen (7) / Joe Reed (4) / Dennis Morrison (2) / Norm Snead (1)
1975 Norm Snead (7) / Steve Spurrier (6) / Tom Owen (1)
1976 Jim Plunkett (12) / Scott Bull (2)
1977 Jim Plunkett (14)
1978 Steve DeBerg (11) / Scott Bull (5)
1979 Steve DeBerg (15) / Joe Montana (1)
1980 Steve DeBerg (9) / Joe Montana (7)
1981 Joe Montana (16)
1982 Joe Montana (9)
1983 Joe Montana (16)
1984 Joe Montana (15) / Matt Cavanaugh (1)
1985 Joe Montana (15) / Matt Cavanaugh (1)
1986 Joe Montana (8) / Jeff Kemp (6) / Mike Moroski (2)
1987 Joe Montana (11) / Steve Young (3) / Bob Gagliano (1)
1988 Joe Montana (13) / Steve Young (3)
1989 Joe Montana (13) / Steve Young (3)
1990 Joe Montana (15) / Steve Young (1)
1991 Steve Young (10) / Steve Bono (6)
1992 Steve Young (16)
1993 Steve Young (16)
1994 Steve Young (16)
1995 Steve Young (11) / Elvis Grbac (5)
1996 Steve Young (12) / Elvis Grbac (4)
1997 Steve Young (15) / Jim Druckenmiller (1)
1998 Steve Young (15) / Ty Detmer (1)
1999 Jeff Garcia (10) / Steve Stenstrom (3) / Steve Young (3)
2000 Jeff Garcia (16)
2001 Jeff Garcia (16)
2002 Jeff Garcia (16)
2003 Jeff Garcia (13) / Tim Rattay (3)
2004 Tim Rattay (9) / Ken Dorsey (7)
2005 Alex Smith (7) / Tim Rattay (4) / Ken Dorsey (3) / Cody Pickett (2)
2006 Alex Smith (16)
2007 Alex Smith (7) / Trent Dilfer (6) / Shaun Hill (2) / Chris Weinke (1)
2008 Shaun Hill (8) / J. T. O'Sullivan (8)
2009 Alex Smith (10) / Shaun Hill (6)
2010 Alex Smith (10) / Troy Smith (6)
2011 Alex Smith (16)
2012 Alex Smith (9) / Colin Kaepernick (7)
2013 Colin Kaepernick (16)
2014 Colin Kaepernick (16)
2015 Colin Kaepernick (8) / Blaine Gabbert (8)
2016 Colin Kaepernick (11) / Blaine Gabbert (5)
2017 Brian Hoyer (6) / C. J. Beathard (5) / Jimmy Garoppolo (5)
2018 Nick Mullens (8) / C. J. Beathard (5) / Jimmy Garoppolo (3)
2019 Jimmy Garoppolo (16)
2020 Nick Mullens (8) / Jimmy Garoppolo (6) / C. J. Beathard (2)
2021 Jimmy Garoppolo (15) / Trey Lance (2)
2022 Jimmy Garoppolo (10) / Brock Purdy (5) / Trey Lance (2)
2023 Brock Purdy (16) / Sam Darnold (1)
2024 Brock Purdy (8)

1982 NFL season was shorted to 9 games do to a 57-day player strike[1]

Postseason

In the NFL era (since 1950 season)

Season Quarterback(s)
1957 Y. A. Tittle (0–1)
1970 John Brodie (1–1)
1971 John Brodie (1–1)
1972 John Brodie (0–1)
1981 Joe Montana (3–0)
1983 Joe Montana (1–1)
1984 Joe Montana (3–0)
1985 Joe Montana (0–1)
1986 Joe Montana (0–1)
1987 Joe Montana (0–1)
1988 Joe Montana (3–0)
1989 Joe Montana (3–0)
1990 Joe Montana (1–1)
1992 Steve Young (1–1)
1993 Steve Young (1–1)
1994 Steve Young (3–0)
1995 Steve Young (0–1)
1996 Steve Young (1–1)
1997 Steve Young (1–1)
1998 Steve Young (1–1)
2001 Jeff Garcia (0–1)
2002 Jeff Garcia (1–1)
2011 Alex Smith (1–1)
2012 Colin Kaepernick (2–1)
2013 Colin Kaepernick (2–1)
2019 Jimmy Garoppolo (2–1)
2021 Jimmy Garoppolo (2–1)
2022 Brock Purdy (2–1)
2023 Brock Purdy (2–1)

Most games as starting quarterback

These quarterbacks have the most starts for the 49ers in regular season games in the NFL era (since 1950 season).

Name
GP Games played
GS Games started
W Number of wins as starting quarterback
L Number of losses as starting quarterback
T Number of ties as starting quarterback
Pct Winning percentage as starting quarterback
Name Period GP GS W L T %
John Brodie 1957–1973 201 159 74 77 8 .491
Joe Montana 1979–1992 168 140 101 39 — .721
Steve Young 1987–1999 150 124 91 33 — .734
Y. A. Tittle 1951–1960 112 79 46 31 2 .595
Alex Smith 2005–2012 80 75 38 36 1 .513
Jeff Garcia 1999–2003 74 71 35 36 — .493
Colin Kaepernick 2011–2016 69 58 28 30 — .483
Jimmy Garoppolo 2017–2022 57 55 38 17 — .691

Team career passing records

In the NFL era (since 1950 season)

Name Comp Att % Yds TD Int
Joe Montana 2,929 4,600 63.7 35,124 244 123
John Brodie 2,469 4,491 55.0 31,548 214 224
Steve Young 2,400 3,648 65.8 29,907 221 86
Jeff Garcia 1,449 2,360 61.4 16,408 113 56
Alex Smith 1,290 2,177 59.3 14,280 81 63
Y. A. Tittle 1,226 2,194 55.9 16,016 108 134
Jimmy Garoppolo 1,104 1,632 67.6 13,599 82 42

See also

References

  1. ^ "NFL strike ends after 57 days in 1982". New York Daily News. November 16, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2024.