What drives a poor reputation for the Rogue class?

[Witty Username]

Might be true, though 2014 PHB Arcane Trickster is pretty bad in combat. The SCAG cantrips, later reprinted, make a big difference. That was always one of the problems with power creep and why casters were great. Every printed class spell is retroactively available to casters, but subclass features aren't.

I would say their is a range between bad and not better than everyone else that AT prior to scag falls into.

Rogue damage is pretty much only bad in comparison to SS and GWM nonsense, which is commonly discussed as the best damage option available.