I so agree. Frank Darabont, the original show runner, lasted through season 1 and the beginning of season 2. He quit or was fired (depending on whom you believe) when the show became such a surprise mega-hit during season 1 that the producers demanded he create twice as many episodes for the new season 2. But the demand came with the same budget as allowed for half as many episodes in season 1. Darabont and AMC have been embroiled in lawsuits against each other that continue to this day.
Glen Mazzara took over as show runner during season 2 and lasted until the end of season 3. The show was definitely feeling a reduction in quality, but not as precipitously as would become the case in subsequent seasons after he quit at the end of season 3.
Scott Gimple took over for seasons 4-8, and the show continued to get more unwatchable with each new season. He has been the death knell of the show, imo.
Despite the fact that the producers put Angela Kang in the show runner role for the beginning of this current season (season 9), they created a new position for Gimple (Chief Content Officer), putting him at the head of both Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. I expect both shows to continue their steady decline.
Gimp le has been just the worst. He has no idea how to keep a story interesting. It seems like the only idea he has, which he uses over and over, is to kill off characters for shock value. It’s one thing to kill off a liked character to advance a story line (I.e. Shane or Herschel). But Gimpe has been killing characters solely to upset the audience, like Carl, Beth, Abraham, and so on. After a. while, you stop being emotionally invested because you know it doesn’t matter, then Boom!!! Low ratings...