I liked DT early stuff when they were more prog influenced....I will say from a technical perspective Petrucci, Myong, and Rudess are far superior to anyone in Metallica....Petrucci's a really good guy, Steve Morse is one of his favorite players....I saw Rudess do a blistering set of acoustic piano (a mix of Genesis, Yes, ELP) opening for Steven Wilson years ago....and got to talk to him some before the show, very nice fellow.....
That said Petrucci's playing can be a little stiff at times but overall I really like him....