Safe to assume Jimmy Garoppolo's 49ers career is over; here's the top 10 QB in franchise history.
1. Joe Montana
2. Steve Young
-This is close; Young's got more approximate value in fewer games; Joe's superior postseason record is what puts him over the top; but if you were separating into tiers, these two are together and alone. The 49ers did not win a title in the pre-Super Bowl era and haven't won a title in the post-Young era; this is it since 1946, it's just these two guys.
3. John Brodie
-No one in 49er history has quarterbacked more games than Brodie. He's got 50 more AV than any other QB in franchise history who isn't Young and Montana.
4. YA Tittle
5. Frankie Albert
-Essentially, the Niners had 3 starting quarterbacks in the first quarter century of their existence, Brodie and before Brodie, Tittle and and before Tittle, Albert. This is the pre-approximate value era; Albert was a career 49er, never playing anywhere else, the bulk of that career in the AAFC before the franchise joined the NFL in '50. Between '46 and '69 the Niners made the postseason twice - once was Albert, losing the AAFC title game in '49 and the other Tittle, winning a division title in '57 and losing in the divisional round of the playoffs.
6. Jeff Garcia
-Garcia's numbers are just really good - he's got more AV/game than any Niner QB save Young.
7. Colin Kaepernick
8. Jimmy Garoppolo
9. Alex Smith
-The two quarterbacks who took the Niners to the SB and lost are here; Smith quarterbacked that SB losing team prior to injury and previously took the team to a conference championship; Kaepernick has the AV advantage in this tier, Garoppolo the advantage in AV/gm.
There's not a good choice for 10th if you wanted to round this out; Spurrier's next in AV, Plunkett in AV/gm. The hope (need) is that Lance, at end of career, will be no worst than in that last tier; I think it's fair to say that anything short of Kaepernick is a significant disappointment.
