DoD,
Believe it or not all scouts understand that 1.8 on the 1B side of the bag is better than 1.8 three feet wide of the bag. Believe it or not, we even understand the importance of accuracy.
Maybe this will clear it up...
1.8 that is anywhere that can be caught and a tag put down will always be better than a 2.3 right on the money. The quicker the pop time the "less" accurate a catcher needs to be.
Regarding the key being whether you throw the runner out or not. That is true, but a poor catcher with a poor pop time can throw out a poor runner! That is good, he threw out the runner, but he will not get any interest from scouts or college coaches. They have the stop watch on him! The quick guys will run him to death.
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here. This is just the way things are. The idea is to have the ability to throw out the quick guys at the highest possible level. If the runner is 3.3 to 2B and the pitcher is an amazing 1.2 to the plate. It takes 2.00 and "accurate" to even have a chance. If a catcher can't do that, nothing else matters in that case. The slow guys seldom steal bases at the highest levels.
I'm not discounting tag time, but if we are talking tag times, some middle infielders are better at that than others. Everyone notices accuracy on throws. Hard to miss that if you're watching.
Yes, it is teamwork, it takes the pitcher and the tag along with the catcher. However, it has to be a catcher who is capable of getting it there (that means accurately) in time.