A place for blue collars?

A few of the holdovers from the Shields era fall into the "dependable, but definitely not spectacular" mold that was so prevalent in those days. I wonder if there will be a place for them in the new scheme of things. We lacked firepower before, but will there be any premium on consistency and dependability? And will the new offensive and defensive systems value those qualities as much as in the past. I do not know, of course, so I am not predicting - just wondering.