I thought the main points for Dragoon was that it was supposed to be a more forgiving type of melee damage, while being good at both single-target and area damage. I thought a big part of that was that they were supposed be invulnerable during any jumping attack animation.

I think comparing any job to Bard or Black Mage as they are now is a mistake, since they both have so much utility and relatively easy DPS for both single-target and area damage with very minor downsides.