Meh, it's far too early to tell. This is all purely speculative.
True. However, he has the tools and utility to claim a good side of the spectrum. Or at the very least, upper-middle. Which is a very good place to be.
To be honest, no.
1) His recovery options are about as bad as lil mac's and he has safer options and an insta ko option.
2) Hadoken is among the worst projectiles in the game. All of them can be stopped with a jab or another projectile.
1) His recovery is actually pretty good distance wise thanks to his lofty weight. The problem is it makes him predictable. So you are totally right.
Now for the Zelda-brand snark.
2) I'm going to make you marry Ryu's Hadouken. In short, projectiles should require no real planning to harass with or poke, kills should require some planning. Damage and kill factors are also nice, but the point of projectiles is to harass/follow up/force options/limit options/etc. Fire and forget is basically all you need. Downtime is expected, but shouldn't be detrimental. Now on to the 2 bad projectiles, or as I like to call them, "Damsel Magic!" The ability to instantly turn yourself into a damsel in distress with just one easy movement. Only Zelda's magic is strong enough to use this powerfully (bad) amazing magic.
Din's Useless. I mean Din's Fire:
[ ]Fire and forget (she's got the fire part down)
[ ]Low enough downtime to allow spamming or follow ups
[X]Forces options or limits them (only for landing targets or offstage targets that can't afford a dodge)
[X]Can kill (if perfectly charged to stage 3/2 and aimed)
[ ]Can be charged and stored
[X]Can gimp (pls sweetspot)
[ ]No real thought required to use (better read the user's manual before each use)
[ Rapid fire/multi hits! (like I said, she's got the fire part down. . .)
[ ]High hit stun to offset slow firing (not consistent enough to do anything outside sweetspots)
[X]KB! (when you sweetspot it at stage 3 or 2 at high %)
[ ]Hard to block when barraging opponents (it's explosion is delayed, you can perfect shield every time even online)
[ ]Doesn't make you a sitting duck or helpless (Zelda/Sheik are the only ones who go into a helpless state with projectiles lmao)
[X]Can't be broken or "taken away" for a period of time
[ ]Different uses
[X]Damage is nice (more so the sweetspot, doesn't even balance with the downsides)
[O]Decent coverage (the explosion is ok size wise as is the distance; the bad control ruins it mostly)
Phantom Avoidable. I mean Phantom Knight:
[ ]Fire and forget (you are tied down after casting it anyway
[ ]Low enough downtime to allow spamming or follow ups
[X]Forces options or limits them (if planned properly)
[X]Can kill (if planned properly)
[O]Can be charged and stored (can be charged quickly, but can't be stored)
[X]Can gimp (if planned properly)
[ ]No real thought required to use them (so much planning required it's barely worth it)
[O]Rapid fire/multi hits! (2 hits when fully charged, very easy to avoid both anyway)
[X]High hit stun to offset slow firing (kinda, if it doesn't whiff)
[X]KB! (fully charged, final hit or 1st hit at high %)
[ ]Hard to block when barraging opponents (slow and ez to shield; then break/catch Zelda)
[ ]Doesn't make you a sitting duck or helpless (not checked? then it's automatically mediocre or worse)
[ ]Can't be broken or "taken away" for a period of time (EX: luma dying or Villager pocketing Diddy's Banana)
[X]Different uses
[X]Damage is nice
[O]Decent coverage (it covers about 1/3rd the FG stage, perhaps closer to 1/2. . . But is slooooow+blindspots)
In other words, Zelda's projectiles is what projectiles shouldn't be. So much commitment is required that Zelda is basically forced into an arranged marriage with her projectiles and she also has to come up with all the wedding plans. So again, these are really bad projectiles. Useful? Yeah. A lot of risk? So much that it makes you wonder why anyone would use them seriously.
Now let's look at Ryu's hadouken:
[X]Fire and forget (spam to your little heart's desire)
[X]Low enough downtime to allow spamming or follow ups (moderate cooldown)
[X]Forces options or limits them
[ ]Can kill
[ ]Can be charged and stored
[X]Can gimp (it can't gimp like Peach's turnip, but it does have the potential to harass off stage characters/force low/high recoveries)
[X]No real thought required to use them (ez projectilez)
[O]Rapid fire/Multi hit! (multi-hit Hadouken counts, kind of)
[X]High enough hit stun to offset slow firing (single burst hadouken)
[X]KB! (enough to offset the usage; is for zoning like Link's boomerang/Samus' homing missiles)
[ ]Hard to block when barraging opponents (can be shielded, but that's a forced option that Ryu can capitalize on)
[XXXXXXXXXXX]Doesn't make you a sitting duck or helpless (this is all a damaging projectile needs, tbh)
[X]Can't be broken or "taken away" for a period of time (EX: luma dying or Villager pocketing Diddy's Banana)
[X]Different uses (multi hit or single hit)
[X]Damage is nice
[X]Decent coverage (travels across 2/3rds of the FG stage and fires at a slow rate which is GOOD for zoning)
You may now lift the Hadouken's veil and kiss the bride. It's so beautiful and radiant that it's basically glowing. huehuehue