This is still you complaining about a different issue though. Koby getting injured by fodder doesn't seem to be what your problem is with him, it's that Oda hasn't given him feats against anyone strong.
But that same argument has been made for Lucci, Crocodile, Shiryu, Hancock etc. yet it's still obvious how strong those characters are.
I'm not complaining though. I'm just being objective and consistent in how I grade characters. Every argument i'm using against Koby i'm using against other characters as well. Hence, you don't see me hyping up Prince Grus, despite believing he'll be admiral tier down the line.
Feats aren't prioritized for me, if there are character statements or narrative portrayal showing otherwise. Ie, Dragon with 0 feats. However, in Koby's case and essentially rest of the sword, they have no feats and no comparative statements. And in the few arcs they've been here they were restricted to fodder control.
Lucci, Crocodile, Shiryuu, Boa all have comparative statements and tons of feats.