The basis of a Red mage is a backline job. A Red mage has 33% white magic, 33% black magic and 33% "attack". In the FF series a Red mage was able to fulfill all roles and while they couldn't hit as hard as a warrior, use strong magic like a black mage or cure as big as a white mage they could handle any situation. Fight a mob that's immune to magic, they can still strike for decent dmg with their blade, fight a mob immune to physical attacks they can use magic. In one situation the black mage is useless and in another the warrior is useless but overall the Red Mage can find themselves always useful in any situation. The blade they wield signifies that they are also capable of melee combat but it's not their main strength.

The reason why Red mage was given the identity of an enfeebler was to expand on their jack of all trades aspect, their enfeeble factor allows them to make up for their abilities in fighting, curing and elemental magic. Red mages can't cure as much as a White mage but they can conjure up potent enfeebles to reduce the amount of healing that may need to be done over time. If Red mage is introduced in this game it won't be focused as a melee it's main focus will most likely be the enfeeble factor, if you want a magic class that use magic and is a front-line fighter then it would be better to look at a class which interprets the ability Celes uses, Runic Blade. Runic Blade could be a mix of a magic defense and melee class using the absorb ability to reduce damage taken from magical attacks while using the same magical energy to send it back to the foe.