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The San Francisco 49ers got a win in Jimmy Garoppolo’s debut, and the quarterback set a franchise record in the game. Garoppolo completed 26 of 37 pass attempts for 293 yards, and his passing yardage was the highest any 49ers quarterback has had in their first start with the team.
From Elias: QB Jimmy Garoppolo completed 26 of 37 atts. for a career-high 293 yds. in his first start as a member of the 49ers. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, his 293 passing yds. set the franchise record for most passing yds. by a player in his first start with the team.
— Samuel Lam (@SamuelYLam) December 3, 2017
I decided to take a look back at notable 49ers quarterbacks over the years, and how their first start went with the team. I went through the top 16 quarterbacks in 49ers history based on passing yards, and then added in a few names I found particularly interesting. Some players were veterans onto the second or third team of their career, others were first year rookies, and others were a year or two into their career.
Here is a list of those players. The first 16 are in order of career passing yards, and the rest are just grabbed as I found them.
Joe Montana (12/2/79): 5/12, 36 yards, 22 rushing yards
John Brodie (12/15/57): 5/12, 75 yards, 2 interceptions
Steve Young (11/15/87): 5/6, 80 yards, 1 TD, 24 rushing yards, 1 sack
Jeff Garcia (10/3/99): 21/33, 243 yards, 2 TD, 1 rushing TD, 1 sack
Y.A. Tittle (12/9/51): 5/8, 73 yards, 2 interceptions
Alex Smith (10/9/05): 9/23, 74 yards, 4 interceptions, 5 sacks
Colin Kaepernick (11/19/12): 16/23, 243 yards, 2 TD, 10 rushing yards, 1 sack
Frankie Albert (9/17/50): 7/17, 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Steve DeBerg (9/3/78): 16/32, 174 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT
Steve Spurrier (11/26/67): 10/24, 72 yards, 3 INT, 12 rushing yards
Tim Rattay (11/2/03): 19/29, 236 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 1 sack
Shaun Hill (12/15/07): 21/28, 197 yards, 1 TD, 2 sacks, 1 rushing TD
Jim Plunkett (10/5/75): 8/12, 120 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
Elvis Grbac (10/22/95): 11/14, 119 yards, 2 TD
Blaine Gabbert (11/8/15): 15/25, 185 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 32 rushing yards
Steve Bone (11/10/91): 15/32, 131 yards, 3 sacks
Brian Hoyer (9/10/17): 24/35, 193 yards, 1 INT, 4 sacks
C.J. Beathard (10/22/17): 22/38, 235 yards, 1 rushing TD, 30 rushing yards, 5 sacks
J.T. O’Sullivan (9/7/08): 14/20, 195 yards, 1 INT, 4 sacks
There are quite a few bad performances, but in looking through this list, the best ones belong to Jeff Garcia, Colin Kaepernick, and Tim Rattay. Garoppolo did not get into the end zone in his starting debut, but I think most of us came away impressed with his performance. The Chicago Bears are a bad football team, but they have an underrated defense under coordinator Vic Fangio. They were missing safeties on Sunday, but even still, it was strong work by Garoppolo and company.