Dude could never live up to Jason.
Probably why they made Tommy Red in Zeo.
Rocky was never supposed to live up to Jason, Tommy was made the leader when Austin St. John left the show, if he had stayed Jason would have remained the leader. They rerecorded some lines in White Light and declared Tommy the leader but in the two episodes after that while Austin St. John was still part of the show Jason is still leading the team.
Anyway, when Rocky was created and cast it was already decided that Tommy would lead the team, Rocky wasn't a new Jason or a leader, he was just another team member.
The reason Tommy became red in Zeo was because they went back to use sentai footage and the Ohranger footage clearly showed red leadimg the team, so of course that spot went to the PRs established leader.
Andros only got the Red spot because he was already Red and was from space in the first place!
I'll not have TJ slander in this thread!
But that was the writer's choice, Andros could have been introduced as the blue ranger, while he was fightimg alone the color of his suit really didn't matter.
It does make sense though that they made him red, the former Turbo Rangers were on his turf, lived on his ship, followed his directions and he was central to the season's story with the search for his sister etc., the other rangers wanted to save Zordon but they were really just along for the ride, Space was primarily Andros' story.
I agree that T.J. was a great red, tje decision to make him blue him was story driven, not because he couldn't live up to anyone and even as the blue ranger he still showed leadership qualities, he was a great character, one of my favourites from that era.