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
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) |
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) |
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 |
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 |
See also
- Lists of NFL starting quarterbacks