Every San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback ever: Full list
The San Francisco 49ers entered the world of football in 1946 and have had some of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game wearing their uniform. We all know the legends such as Joe Montana and Steve Young.
But what about all of the other quarterbacks to start at least one game for the 49ers?
Let's take a trip back in time through each decade and revisit every starting quarterback from that 10-year span.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 1940 to 1949
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
Frankie Albert (1946-1952) | 38 (68) | 2 (2) |
The 49ers had just one starting quarterback during their first decade of existence. Frankie Albert started all 38 games for them in the 1940s and started the Niners' first-ever playoff game with two postseason starts under his belt early in his 49ers career.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 1950 to 1959
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
Frankie Albert (1946-1952) | 30 (68) | 0 (2) |
Y.A. Tittle (1951-1960) | 74 (78) | 1 (1) |
Jim Powers (1950-1953) | 25 (25) | 0 (0) |
Jim Cason (1948-1954) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Earl Morrall (1956) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
John Brodie (1957-1973) | 9 (158) | 0 (5) |
The 1950s saw more mix-ups at the quarterback position but Frankie Albert kicked the decade off as the starter. Y.A. Tittle eventually took over full-time in 1953 and went on to start 74 games for the 49ers in the 50s, the most by any starting quarterback that decade. The end of the decade introduced Niner fans to John Brodie, who would go on to start games for them over three decades.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 1960 to 1969
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
Y.A. Tittle (1951-1960) | 4 (78) | 0 (1) |
John Brodie (1957-1973) | 110 (158) | 0 (5) |
Lamar McHan (1963) | 9 (9) | 0 (0) |
Bob Waters (1960-1963) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
George Mira (1964-1968) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Steve Spurrier (1967-1975) | 6 (26) | 0 (0) |
Y.A. Tittle started just four games for the Niners in the 1960s before John Brodie took over as the starting signal-caller for the majority of the decade. Brodie had 110 starts during the regular season and there was a considerably large gap for second-most starts, which belonged to Lamar McHan with nine.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 1970 to 1979
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
John Brodie (1957-1973) | 39 (158) | 5 (5) |
Steve Spurrier (1967-1975) | 20 (26) | 0 (0) |
Joe Reed (1972-1974) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
Tom Owen (1974-1975) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Dennis Morrison (1974) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Norm Snead (1974-1975) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
Jim Plunkett (1976-1977) | 26 (26) | 0 (0) |
Scott Bull (1976-1978) | 7 (7) | 0 (0) |
Steve DeBerg (1978-1980) | 26 (35) | 0 (0) |
Joe Montana (1979-1992) | 1 (139) | 0 (19) |
John Brodie made all five of his playoff starts in the 1970s but eventually all good things come to an end and other quarterbacks got a shot to start games for San Francisco. Steve Spurrier, Jim Plunkett, and Steve DeBerg all had double-digit starts and we also got to see Joe Montana start a game for the first time at the end of the decade.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 1980 to 1989
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
Joe Montana (1979-1992) | 123 (139) | 17 (19) |
Steve DeBerg (1978-1980) | 9 (35) | 0 (0) |
Matt Cavanaugh (1983-1985) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Jeff Kemp (1986) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Mike Moroski (1986) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Steve Young (1987-1999) | 9 (124) | 0 (14) |
Bob Gagliano (1987) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
The 1980s were kind to the 49er faithful and that's in big part to Joe Montana, who started 123 regular-season games and 17 playoff games during the decade. Montana did miss time due to injuries and whenever he missed games, we saw backups fill in, such as Steve DeBerg and eventually Steve Young, who became the Niners starting quarterback in the 1990s.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 1990 to 1999
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
Joe Montana (1979-1992) | 15 (139) | 2 (19) |
Steve Young (1987-1999) | 115 (124) | 14 (14) |
Steve Bono (1989-1993) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Elvis Grbac (1994-1996) | 9 (9) | 0 (0) |
Jim Druckenmiller (1997-1998) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Ty Detmer (1998) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Jeff Garcia (1999-2003) | 10 (71) | 0 (3) |
Steve Stenstrom (1999) | 3 (3) | 0 (0) |
The 1990s were also pretty sweet for 49ers fans, as they had both Joe Montana and Steve Young quarterbacking their team for them during the decade. Montana only started 15 games in the 90s before the organization moved onto Young, who went on to start 115 regular-season games and 14 postseason games. The end of the decade brought on Jeff Garcia as the starting quarterback.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 2000 to 2009
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
Jeff Garcia (1999-2003) | 61 (71) | 3 (3) |
Tim Rattay (2000-2005) | 16 (16) | 0 (0) |
Ken Dorsey (2004-2005) | 10 (10) | 0 (0) |
Cody Pickett (2004-2005) | 2 (2) | 0 (0) |
Alex Smith (2005-2012) | 50 (75) | 0 (2) |
Trent Dilfer (2007) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Shaun Hill (2007-2009) | 16 (16) | 0 (0) |
Chris Weinke (2007) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
J.T. O'Sullivan (2008) | 8 (8) | 0 (0) |
With both Joe Montana and Steve Young retired and the dynasty long in the rearview mirror, the 49ers had to find a new franchise quarterback when the new millennium hit. Jeff Garcia started the 2000s as the 49ers signal-caller, starting 61 regular-season games and three playoff games.
The 49ers landed the number one pick in the 2005 NFL Draft and took Alex Smith out of Utah to be their next hopeful face of the franchise. Unfortunately, things didn't work out too well there, as Smith struggled in the role. He started 50 games in the 2000s but a lot of people slapped that bust label on him.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 2010 to 2019
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
Alex Smith (2005-2012) | 25 (75) | 2 (2) |
Troy Smith (2010) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
Colin Kaepernick (2011-2016) | 58 (58) | 6 (6) |
Blaine Gabbert (2014-2016) | 13 (13) | 0 (0) |
Jimmy Garoppolo (2017-2022) | 30 (55) | 3 (6) |
Brian Hoyer (2017) | 6 (6) | 0 (0) |
C.J. Beathard (2017-2020) | 10 (12) | 0 (0) |
Nick Mullens (2018-2020) | 8 (16) | 0 (0) |
Smith stuck with the Niners for the first few years of the 2010s and started to look like he could be the franchise quarterback the team thought he was capable of when they spent the first overall pick on him in 2005. Smith missed time in 2012, however, which paved the way for Colin Kaepernick to take over. He led the Niners to a Super Bowl appearance that season and the rest is history there.
In 2017, the Niners traded for Jimmy Garoppolo with the hopes that he could be the right guy for the job. Garoppolo struggled with injuries during his 49ers tenure but he did help lead the team to a Super Bowl appearance in the 2019 season and started three total playoff games during the 2010s.
49ers starting quarterbacks from 2020 to Present
Name (Time spent with SF) | Starts this decade (Career starts with 49ers) | Playoff starts this decade (Career playoff starts with 49ers) |
|---|---|---|
Jimmy Garoppolo (2017-2022) | 25 (55) | 3 (6) |
Nick Mullens (2018-2020) | 8 (16) | 0 (0) |
C.J. Beathard (2017-2020) | 2 (12) | 0 (0) |
Trey Lance (2021-2022) | 4 (4) | 0 (0) |
Brock Purdy (2022-Present) | 21 (21) | 6 (6) |
Sam Darnold (2023) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) |
Jimmy Garoppolo started 25 regular-season games and three playoff games for San Francisco in the 2020s before it became evident that he wasn't the answer at the most important position in football. The 49ers thought they had something in Trey Lance but after Mr. Irrelevant (the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft) Brock Purdy went on to dazzle as a rookie, he became the starting quarterback and helped get the 49ers to a Super Bowl in the 2023 season.
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