Fair, however I think because Propper is such a classy player people ignore the shift he puts in, which is ahead of Norwood's, IMO. Wasn't Propper in the top 10 for distance covered earlier this season?
In my opinion Kayal is a better tackler than Stephens. Could be wrong but I think he and Propper have the most complementary attributes of any combinations of those 3 players.
At the same time, he's never really been a goal-scoring midfielder, nor has Kayal, yet some seem to think he is?
I'm not posting this as a snarky response to your comment that he could shoot more, btw.
I think he has a tough job at this level as his touch needs to be basically perfect, so yes Stephens probably has stepped up from last season but unfortunately for him his mistakes are probably more noticeable than others.
I think he needs to be at the absolute top of his game to survive in the Prem. Has had some decent games, but also had momentary lapses of giving the ball away.