San Francisco 49ers: 5 most forgotten quarterbacks in team history

49ers Forgotten QB No. 1: Troy Smith

Niners Tenure: 2010

College fans should remember quarterback Troy Smith, who won the Heisman Trophy in 2006 with Ohio State.

Unfortunately for Smith and the team that drafted him, the Baltimore Ravens, that collegiate success didn’t automatically translate over into the NFL.

More from SF 49ers History

• Building the greatest 49ers all-time offense in franchise history
• 49ers all-time best NFL Draft picks by each round
• Famous 49ers players who jumped ship and joined Raiders
• How many 49ers players have won Super Bowl MVP award?
• How many Super Bowls have the 49ers won?

San Francisco elected to sign Smith as a backup in 2010 where he would fill in for Alex Smith during the latter half of the season amid yet another disappointing campaign. And while Troy Smith’s one-year stint with the 49ers wasn’t overly memorable, he did manage to engineer three wins in six starts and even secured an NFL Offensive Player of the Week nod from Sports Illustrated in Week 8 against the Denver Broncos.

Yeah, you might have forgotten that by now.

What also likely adds to Smith being in the ranks of the forgotten is the fact the Niners underwent their massive regime change post Mike Singletary, which led to head coach Jim Harbaugh the following year.

Harbaugh elected to retain Alex Smith, letting Troy Smith walk in free agency, and the latter never played another down in the NFL again.

But at least he gets remembered on this list.