There's a lot of misconception here some of which has been cleared out but:
Ryu does not have trouble killing nor does he lack setups, he has a 3 frame jab, 3 frame dtilt and a 4 frame utilt all of which combo into shoryuken which kills most characters at 70-90% with the true input (40-60% with rage mind you). Heavy jab is pretty much Ganondorf's ftilt except it's an anti-air move and has more range and comes out faster. Dsmash is frame 6 with 3 frame release and hits the ledge, usmash is frame 9 with 3 frame release and kills at 110-130%, and fsmash is basically Little Mac's fsmash in every regard just without the superarmor. Dair is a strong, 8 frame meteor for crying out loud that sends the opponent angled down-forward meaning you can use it on stage and still kill your opponent offstage plus you can combo into it from Shakunetsu Hadoken. Bair and uair are also faster and stronger than most of their kind in the game. Focus attack also sets up into anything and has very unique properties, its utility however we'll see as time goes on.
Ryu's recovery also isn't bad. It is definitely above average and in no way comparable to Luigi who suffers from terrible aerial speed whereas Ryu has one of the best ones in the game. You can get back to the stage from literally anywhere with just your mid-air jump, aerial momentum and SRK, especially since Ryu isn't a fastfaller. In addition focus attack can absorb hits and Tatsu + SRK have invincibility on startup and SRK range is about equal to Mario's up b, plus Ryu can stall in the air with Hadoken while covering himself with it. He also gets through a lot of things with his fair or trades and then uses Tatsu when the opponent can't punish it. His options for recovering are plentiful, don't consider it bad just because you Tatsu every time and get punished. There was even a Little Mac comparison ?????????
But yeah, Ryu's weakness is his lack of throw follow-ups and the lack of safety because of his hitlag despite great frame data and damage output, however as long as you space properly certainly no one is able to grab you out of your aerials or any other moves on shield. Buffered fairs and nairs are safe though and will hit just about any character even from a full hop while also creating follow-up opportunities.
Regardless, can't say yet whether he'll be top tier or not. Once people learn the inputs and hit confirms I'm calling him a clear high tier though. You absolutely cannot dismiss a 6 frame single hit special that kills characters as early as 50% and isn't as punishable as the likes of ZSS' or MK's up b, 6 and 8 frame aerials with good hitboxes that do 15% and 16% damage respectively, a killing long range jab or an 8 frame meteor with actual power behind it.
It doesn't matter how fast the move is if the range is bad. Granted the Frame data is good on these moves the opponent has to be essentially on top of Ryu. A smart player will avoid this. Meaning Ryu has to rely on Fsmash, Bair, and a offstage Dair. Fsmash is slow enough to react to, on top of being punishable on shield if mispaced. Next no one is saying he cannot rack damage, this is what we know to be true. Usmash does not kill that early unless you have some rage built up. Usually with good DI ive seen people live until 140, which is high for a smash attack. The Usmash also has somewhat poor range, made up due to the speed and how safe it is on shield.
Ryu's tatsu only goes horizontal meaning you can either spike him from above or risk trading, if he is at high enough percents he will most certainly die. He lacks any air friction, if that makes sense. That means he is commited to jumping in one direction. While it's not as bad as Luigi any good player will be able to stop him in some form.
Hadoken stalls would be good if there was less ending lag. Unless the opponent is punishing with a very laggy smash of thier own you will most likely get punished for doing that. Again a good player will punish this.
Focus attack requires getting at least the lvl 2 charge, which requires 31 frames of charge. The only way you'll land this is by reading a smash attack or getting lucky.
Ryu does have follow up throws at low percents. Dthrow > Fair is a decent one that can do 25 damage. Although it becomes harder/impossible to do at later percents. His grab throws do enough damage by themselves and he can pummel on top of that. He lacks a kill throw.
His special is incredibly punishable if you flub up the inputs. No fast fall, you cannot change air movement. It doesn't matter if the move has less landing lag if the move is done with inputs you will get punished, likely by a charged smash attack.
You are right with the meteor however as it is unique and required the opponent to have a recovery that has both good horizontal and vertical recovery. It's also not bad as a gimping move if you do miss.
After testing him in both training and in actual matches Ryu has the largest gap in KO percents. He can KO mario as early as 85 or as late as ~135, where his other moves become kill moves.
