Not all the characters have particularly close relations to Deku, but Deku was always one of the pillars of the class.
This was laid out in the provisional licence exam.
I don't think its absurd for people his helped in one way or another to have decent rhetoric. Some of which I believe could have been a bit stronger.
Like, Deku's quick thinking is partially what saved Tokoyami during the forest training incident. I think I would have preferred some rhetoric around that over mentioning the sports festival(which was actually a good moment between them, but probably not my first pick).
I feel like Shoji's rhetoric using the forest training arc also could have been a bit stronger as well, considering Deku's rhetoric around saving both Bakugo and Tokoyami.
I liked Tsuyu's rhetoric at least, since that does more directly tie into her character moments, as opposed to just being related to Deku.
Kirishima could have some really strong rhetorics. He's been through a lot with Deku. I'm hoping we see Kirishima call back to his rhetorics around "reaching out" to "save" Deku.
Mina has her moment of teaching Deku how to dance, but I'm hoping, like Tsuyu, we see a more personal rhetoric. Like, Mina could have a rhetoric around not being willing to accept that everything is going to turn out fine considering Mina said something similar about Midnight, and that ended up pretty horribly. It would be nice if Hori leant on that regret as opposed to "I taught you how to dance!"