I'm gonna take a lot of flak for this, but here it goes.
Yes, Centro is (by far) the strongest US 1500m runner. And yes, he has also the best chance at medalling and has shown impressive consistence at global championships (bronze in 2011, 4th at Olympics, silver in 2013). This said, I still think he is overrated.
By this I mean, that he will likely never achieve anything better than bronze again. Thinking that he was talked about as a gold medal threat was a little far-fetched. He picked off guys in Daegu in a relatively watered down field in which everybody else suffered trying to hang with the superior Silas and Asbel. For this he nabbed bronze. In the Olympics, Centro was again the benefactor of ideal conditions, with Makhloufi decimating the field. This was a race in which the favorites looked fried and the Algerian invincible. Centro again ran intelligently and didn't go with the initial surge.
In 2013, Centro again got a race that favored him, with the real kick not starting until 100m.
In recent Beijing, Centro showed why his inability to reach Kenyan strength will now be his downfall. The 1500m event just got a lot more competitive, as we saw Kenyans finally learning how to peak right for this global championships. If they actually play to their strength through an extended hard push, guys like Centro are screwed.
I doubt we'll ever see Centro nab the 1500m AR (certainly not the mile!)
He's gotta contend with vastly stronger guys who can run low 3:29-3:26, and if these guys translate that strength to round running, they can expend way less energy than a guy like Centro and be fresher on the Final.
How does he fix this? Well, we saw Centro run a 13:20 but that's not enough. He should really gear his training toward strictly 5000m, while running more 5000ms. His primary event will still be the 1500m.
This guy has speed, he just doesn't have the strength to hold it. We know he has good speed (he ran 51 last lap in Daegu and was CLOSING on Silas and Asbel).