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Ranking every San Francisco 49ers quarterback since 1980

Here we rank the all the San Francisco 49ers starting quarterbacks from 1980 to the present day.

By Safa Shooshtry

San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana
San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana / H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY, USA TODAY via
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Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

4. Colin Kaepernick (2012 to 2016)

At No. 4, we have Colin Kaepernick. Although he has been a polarizing figure as of late due to his activism, he burst out onto the scene with immediate success in 2012.

After taking over for an injured Alex Smith, Kap wound up keeping the starting job and leading the 49ers to a 5-2 record to finish off the regular season.

He then dazzled audiences all throughout the playoffs with his athleticism, rushing for 181 yards in a divisional-round game against the Green Bay Packers. That performance remains to this day an NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single game.

Kaepernick would end up leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl but would end up losing to the Baltimore Ravens.

Although he finished his 49ers career with a regular-season record of 28-30, a lot of those losses came in the post-Jim Harbaugh era under head coaches Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly, and some not-very-good teams overall.

Kaepernick's time with San Francisco saw him leading the team to two NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl appearance. He also finished with a playoff record of 4-2 as a starter.

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