Vlad III...

Yes, he's good and surprisingly good for harder content as well.
My Chu is lvl 90, but i rarely use him for frontline striker ( he is a Final boss on the back bench waiting for a worthy foe ) for my main Lancer i use Li Shuwen.
He has many uses like durable Crit star gen, Tank, durable attacker. Pretty much solid Lancer in general.

Also if you have cover Class advantage in general, you can raise him as a second lancer.
Chu is a monster, don't compare him to that Vlad III just put him on the backline.

Though it's up to you, i only give a little explanation and hope will help you.

Kiyo Lancer is best lancer

Errrr... Lancers are supposed to have E rank luck so it must have rubbed on you somehow. 😅
On the serious note, I think he's pretty decent as explained above. I do have my bias on Tamamo Lancer though as a member of the Tamamo Fans Club. 😂

You dont have to compare Vlad with Cu. THey functioned different.
CU pro is more close to Vlad

Vlad's traits:
Jack of all trades
Can somehow provide team support, using his 3rd skill

Protection of the Faith is golden ranked skill. Combined with his 3rd skill with deference-up buff from other team member like Waver and Hans, he can even resist enemy Archer's ST NP.

His offensive need support's buff. So not top-class if you put him as 1st DPS.
Recommended team combo
(1) +Nightingale+Waver/Hans.
(2) +Raikou+Waver/Hans/Merlin
(3) Stall Lancer team, with Cu (OG, Pro, Alter), Leonidas......
(4) 2nd dps. Grab a round-based star gain CE for him.
(5) Rely on his one-shoot NP. Put NP damage CE and put 2 supports.

Yeah he's good like the one said he's jack of all trade he can tank thanks to his taunt he can support coz he can buff all ally NP dmge and does a descent damage and I notice he's crit rate is pretty good. He's good with Jalter since jalter is squishy he can tank for jalter same time buff jalter NP .

Put him in as your 4th slot.

Remember also that extra Vlad has an anti-evil niche in addition to some tank abilities. These weird heroes that fill specific niches often end up becoming valuable later on.