It's been covered in other threads. Plus, despite being "weak" we got 3rd and 4th in the 400 at worlds thanks to Norwood and Hall despite Deadmon getting hurt.
But to recap, Norman switched to the 100m and had a mix of injuries and coaching issues. I believe Michael Cherry has been injured, Champ Allison has been dealing with injuries, Kerley isn't a 400m runner anymore, Godwin picked up an injury late in the NCAA season, Ryan Willie seems to have peaked too early or maybe got a minor injury, Randolph Ross is suspended.
For the athletes you mentioned, Lyles has potential for the event but he ran a ton of races at worlds and he's inexperienced at the 4x4, Holloway could probably run a good split but probably wouldn't be interested in it. Kerley seems to like to run 1 400 a year so he can stoke the sub 43 discussions but isn't serious about it.
Ok, they won the race, which is the point. Aside from Benjamin, it was a bunch of no-names.
But imagine if they had run Lyles, Holloway, Kerley and Benjamin. This quartet could absolutely go after the WR.
I find it very odd how weak the US is at the mens 400m right now.
They dominated with the team they ran. Vernon Norwood has had a career year and been a fixture on the DL circuit this year, hardly a “no-name” unless you barely follow the sport. Quincy Hall had just won the 400 bronze!—so only a no-name if you refuse to keep up with recent developments. Justin Robinson is 21 and ran 44.xx five times this season, including 44.47 for 4th at USAs.
Why would you put 3 guys on the relay who have run a total of one 400m race between them this year? The only proven 400 guy of the 3 was training for 100/200 and wasn’t even in great form in those events. Holloway has run some fast 4x4 splits in years past but who’s to say he’s in good 400 shape right now? It would have been stupid, frankly, to load the 4x4 with those guys just because they’re superstars.