Honestly Chrom's low predictions in the tier lists don't really bother me that much. Unless you're the kind of person that ranks a character's worth solely on their usefulness in winning tournies Chrom still looks like he'll be a fun fighter to play.
I think the Little Mac comparisons are apt except for one crucial detail. Little Mac wasn't rated so low in the tier lists just because his recovery sucked, tons of characters have sucky recoveries but still end up doing decent. Little Mac's problem was that his hyper specialized fighting style railroaded him into only one type of play. Feet stuck on the ground while spacing and playing defensive only. He had literally only one viable strategy and the second an opposing player knew how to handle it he was in for a very uphill fight.
What makes Chrom interesting to me is that he feels like a more reasonably mellowed out Little Mac. He will have major, almost crippling weaknesses in off-stage play and getting gimped but on stage he is also very versatile. His balanced out Falchion, combined with his fast foot speed and the improved frame-data that Roy possesses means he can reasonably switch between being a spacer and rushdown fighter on the fly depending on the situation and he has a good enough air-game to back that up. Chrom's success will entirely depend on how good they'll be able to keep their opponents guessing as to what their going to do while they're both on stage and their skill in switching from offense and defense rapidly.
That's not to say that I believe he'll ever be high-tier, let alone top-tier (assuming they don't buff him). He has very big weaknesses to be sure, but that doesn't mean he can't bring a lot of rewards for those who are truly skilled in neutral and mixing tactics up on the fly. And honestly I kinda prefer it that way, it's fun to play such a mixed bag sometimes than just defaulting to whoever happens to be top-tier at the moment.
If his recovery seriously bothers people though than honestly here's how I would buff it.
1. Make him very floaty and drop like a feather, but make his horizontal air movement and acceleration go Sanic speed
2. Make his Dancing Blade give him a moderate push sideways when used in air
3. Modify his Aether so that it can be angled in a more diagonal direction, giving him both plenty of vertical and horizontal movement during recovery.
The thoughts are much appreciated. Honestly it feels like everyone wants Chrom to fail, either because they hate Fire Emblem or cause "Roy's their Boy" and don't want anyone stealing his current spotlight. It makes me happy to see even non-fans show a bit of support.