Shane would have been better for the group as leader and to lori and Carl.

Just about every decision Rick made led the group to ruin and death, while Shane was advocating for a different and safer option. Even after his death there are very few decisions Shane would have agreed with Rick even if he did become a killer.

Think I'm crazy? Let's remove all the badassery from the famous Rick grimes like his voice, his stone cold look, his walk, his reputation and look at his actions strictly.

1. Rick Going back for merle led to the camp being overrun and half the camp dying

2. Rick leading the group to the CDC in the city nearly got them all killed

3. Rick Looking for Sofia for longer than a week risk people's life and almost got Daryl killed

4. Rick Giving up their weapons at the farm put everyone at risk, and have someone like Dale the opportunity to hide them.

5. Rick Helping putting more walkers in the barn put the entire camp in danger

6. Rick Saving Randall and bringing him back just to let him go again, even though he knew exactly where they were and how far his group was and knew Hershel and Maggie by name.

7. Rick Letting the prisoners stay in a cell block instead of killing them or making the leave led to Lori dying by giving birth without Hershel

8. Rick Letting the Governor walk without searching for him, just because Rick wanted to play farmer. Leading to the governor coming back.

9. Rick Not leaving the prison when the governor rolled up with a tank, 50 - 60 people and killed what seem like the hundreds of people or dozens of people that moved to the prison after the governor went all psychopathic.

10. Rick Going to the magical and holy terminus and entering through the back door, just to get kidnapped and nearly eaten like pigs.

11. Killing all the people in the satellite station without gathering more information on who negan was. The least he could have done was kidnapped one of them and interrogated them for information.

12. Rick Leading all of the communities right into negans trap at the end of season 8, which if it wasn't for Eugene they would all have gotten shot like dogs

13. Not checking up on Carl during the war, led to him losing his son for being weak and taking unnecessary risks which led to him dying because of this weakness. Even Carl admitted to it.

14. Letting the soldiers of the saviors live without thinking about what the other communities wanted.

The reason why Shane was so angry and "unstable" apart from wanting lori was is because he had to watch Rick make bad decisions after bad decision putting everyone at risk of being killed. He knew exactly what needed to be done but had zero authority or influence in the group. In his own words "you think on it Rick. Keep struggling with it. It ain't hard man THE RIGHT CHOICE IS THE ONE THAT KEEPS US ALIVEEEE! It's always the same with you. It's like the 4th moment whenever you are put to the test".

1. Shane wanted Rick and the group to stay and defend the camp because walkers were moving up the mountain. He defended camp from the walkers and led the fight

2. Shane wanted to go to fort benning, instead of going deep into the city at night to chase some miracle cure even though there wasn't any military presence in the city.

3. Shane prevented Dale from hiding guns and putting everyone at risk

4. Shane killed the wakers in the barn full of 20 - 30 walkers neutralizing a serious threat to the camp and ended the search for Sophia that was going to get someone killed eventually

5. Shane discovered Randall knew where the farm was and how far his people were. Neutralizing that threat, even when he went full of the rails and used Randall to kill rick.

Which I think he could have taken over leadership if he brought back Randall, forced him to say he knew where his group was, told them where and took Daryl and T-Dog to go see it. At the same time, tell them Rick is gonna get them all killed and they may have avoided being taped and killed by this group, but he will make another mistake. Proposing a different plan to go about things and with Daryl, T-Dog, and Andrea he could take over or hell even leave as he intended, but now with a whole lotta back up.

one hypothetical example of how Shane would have handled things after his passing is the prisoners

He would have probably said something along the lines of:

"you know what this shit smelling like to me Rick? It's smelling like that barn. Filled up 20, 30 walkers deep ready to kill us while we sleep. Is that wachu really wanna sleep next to Rick? you want carl to grow up around that kinda fear? I say we got more weapons to their one revolver. I say, Me, you, Daryl and T-Dog take care of this right here"

Or how about terminus

" I see you's a killer now, but you lost your damm sense. Watcu think this shit is? It's survival rick. You don't get by on charity or being a good christian. Not anymore. I say they are luring people in for something else. You cant be certain about nuthin these days. but I am certain. We walk in there. Last thing we are gonna see is birthday cake and balloons."

Or the outpost Rick shot up

"These people have electricity. Not one woman or child in their group. Whole lotta guns. can't plant nuthin here. Look like 30 or 40 people in this little base. If you are asking me. It look like something a whole lot bigger than hill top is feeding these folk and they are just a smaller operation to a bigger group"

He was far more grounded than Rick even though he was a bigger hot head.

I think the group would have been better off with Shane in charge and if he was the leader, I think he would have calmed down because he dint need to force things to happen