How Packers Rookie Starting Quarterbacks Have Fared

The Green Bay Packers will travel to Seattle to face the Seahawks on Monday night. There, they’ll face rookie quarterback Russell Wilson.

The former Wisconsin Badger beat out former Packers backup Matt Flynn for the Seahawks’ starting job. At the beginning of the season, we told you about the last rookie to start at quarterback for the Packers — Don Majkowski. The list is much longer than that, but the last rookie to be in Wilson’s position as the team’s opening-day starter at quarterback was Tobin Rote, all the way back in 1950.

That season, Rote started all 12 games and the Packers went 3-9. He threw for 1,231 yards, seven touchdowns and a league-leading 24 interceptions. In fact, Rote threw a pick, on average, once every 10 times he passed the ball.

Rote, of course, would go on to have a great amount of success. Unfortunately, most of the rookies to start at quarterback for the Packers didn’t.

Here are the rookies to start at quarterback for the Packers and how they fared that season. A number of these players played in games that they didn’t start, which is why their stats may seem inflated versus the number of starts they made.

Babe Parilli (1952) 4 starts, 2-2 record, 1,416 yards, 13 TDs, 17 INTs
Bart Starr (1956) 1 start, 0-1 record, 325 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs
Joe Francis (1958) 1 start, 0-1 record, 175 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs
Scott Hunter (1971) 9 starts, 4-5-1 record, 1,210 yards, 7 TDs, 17 INTs
David Whitehurst (1977) 5 starts, 2-3 record, 634 yards, 1 TD, 7 INTs
Randy Wright (1984) 1 start, 1-0 record, 310 yards, 2 TDs, 6 INTs
Don Majkowski (1987) 5 starts, 2-2-1 record, 875 yards, 5 TDs, 3 INTs