I've wrestled with this question for a couple of years now! It certainly could lead to more white RBs, but its so easy to chalk CMC up as some kind of unicorn, an extreme outlier, who doesn't represent white athletes as a whole. ...
... Nobody ever denied CMC's athleticism and his ability to play the running back position. I think it is overly optimistic to assume that coaches and scouts will start looking at white running backs like they are the next Christian McCaffery. ...
... Certainly McCaffery will inspire more white kids to play RB, I know I wish growing up that I would have had a white RB to look up to for inspiration!
you’ve made a handful of interesting comments here that i’d like to respond to.
1) McCaffrey is certainly viewed as a unicorn now that he is dominating. there’s no question of that.
2) McCaffrey actually DID have his talent denied coming out of high school, and that fact was well documented in various threads (and even a few news articles) in the collegiate forums here at CF. a couple of notable points that bear repeating here:
A) he was frequently ignored/thought to be a kicker when participating at various recruiting camps, until he had the chance to actually perform, which only happened after he insisted on not changing positions.
B) he wasn’t recruited as a tailback by most programs, instead being targeted to change positions to slot receiver. this is likely the reason (if i recall correctly) that he didn’t go to USC. i seem to remember then-head-coach Pete Carroll refused to consider him for a tailback spot.
C) coming out of Stanford and entering the Draft, most “experts” projected him to need to change positions to, you guessed it, slot receiver, because he was “undersized” to play tailback.
D) the list could go on for quite a while, but hopefully the point is made: even a talent like McCaffrey had considerable pushback against him.
3) that McCaffrey is already inspiring other White athletes is already being noticed (see Borghi at Washington State), but whether it will transfer to more White athletes getting a chance to play verboten positions remains to be seen. the list of INCREDIBLE White athletes who were completely ignored because of the Caste System is miles long. most don’t have the support system and platform (see his parental lineage) that Christian has, and so the Caste System grinds them up and spits them out or completely ignores them (ever hear of Knile Knapp for instance?).
without a doubt, posters here could list hundreds of other players at “black” positions that have been screwed over. if nothing else, hopefully McCaffrey’s success will shine a light on the issue and be a positive influence on young White people from all walks of life.