The date of Trey Lance’s NFL starting debut is the single biggest question mark looming of the 49ers’ 2021 season. If he doesn’t gain the starting job out of camp, he may see some special packages designed for him early in his career to get him acclimated to the speed of the NFL game after starting only 17 games in college.
History tells us though that any 49ers fan with hopes of seeing Lance start a bulk of the team’s games this season is in for a letdown. Perhaps Lance bucks the trend, but since the AFL-NFL merger in 1967, 11 rookie quarterbacks have started under center for San Francisco. Those 11 QBs combined for 55 starts, and only two of them started 10 or more games. It’s worth noting only three of them were first-round picks like Lance, and only one went in the top 3 (Alex Smith).
Here’s the list of rookie quarterbacks who’ve started for the 49ers since the merger, and how many starts they got in their first year: