What drives a poor reputation for the Rogue class?

[Dork_Forge]

Cunning Strike and Weapon Mastery

...Ok, to elaborate - What they needed most were ways to be more of team player in combat beyond getting their extra damage when an ally is near {target}, which Cunning Strike's suite of debuffs help them do. As for why - lacking spells in most cases, offensive subclass abilities in most cases, and the ability to be a solid frontliner (low defenses, low grapple/shove ability, weak strength etc) they weren't get a lot to do in combat utility-wise. CS and WM help to bridge that gap.

WM didn't do as much on the debuff front, however Nick Mastery does go quite a ways to alleviating their bonus action crowding problem.

I'm a 5e baby, did Rogues have that stuff previously?

And for the bolded:

I just.. don't understand?

Between Uncanny Dodge and Evasion their defenses are pretty solid (and with mundane gear they're looking at a low-effort AC 17 top). They won't do it all day but they can fill in for frontline pretty well and can be built to do it even better.

And with how Grapple/Shove works in 5e, Expertise lets them excel at it with really minimal investment.