I guess I'll disagree some more! 

I see each artist as being very, very distinct.  To my way of seeing, there is a huge difference in all their styles and the personality is definitely there.  Rather than mimic the DeCarlo style, the modern artists each have characteristics that they drawn into the characters that shows a unique voice.

Some are conveying huge amounts of information with a simple line.  Others are adding texture that shows movement in what would otherwise be very still art.

I have pretty broad tastes in art, so I tend to admire artists for what they bring to the table - rather than what I have seen in the past.  Hence, it's very hard for me to see the artwork as declining - only changing.

If the art was created by a single artist, then I would be able comment on whether they are undergoing style changes that I liked or disliked.  This isn't the case though.

I happen to think that the artists working at Archie today have a very good fit for the characters.  I'm a huge fan of most of the artists with different reasons for each.  My personal belief is that drawing clean lines is often panned by comic fans.  I also enjoy hyper-realism and "commercial" art - such as that being done in many super-hero books.  I'm also a fan of more "comic" art - the Kelly, Barks, Rosa, Shultz, Watterson, Cho, Hernandez, Smith, baker and others.  Those that work with less line and more space.

Rather than a decline in the quality of art in Archie - I see better use of perspective, space and place.

This is one of the reasons I was so upset about the cancellation of Betty & Veronica Spectacular.  It pushed some traditional Archie perceptions, but maintained the "Archiness" without going to the extreme of the "realistic" style.

While my collecting of comics is broad (as in REALLY broad), I have a special place in my heart for the work of strip artists and "kids" artists.  Here on my desk today I have the following:

Mann & Lewis's Some new Kind of Slaughter
1940's Marvel Young Allies
1960's Marvel Sub-Mariner
Chester Gould's Dick Tracey
Rude's Nexus
Hernadez's Locas
Flight vol. 6
Shultz's Peanuts from the 70's
Jeff Smith's Little Mouse
and some Manga

A pretty diverse grouping of work.

Looking at this work and comparing it to the Archie artists working today - I think we are in an era of Archie that will be remembered as evolutionary for the characters and company.

So... I really, really disagree that the art is declining. 

These days, I like Ruiz and the Kennedy brothers the most. It's clean & simple like DeCarlo, but with their own spin on things. All Archie pencillers can be quite good, when paired with the right inker.

I think you've hit the nail on the head, Gigi.  A penciller is only as good as the inker who assists them.  Some combos for whatever reason just do not work out very well at all, while others just seem to go together like salt and pepper, peanut butter and jelly, or even Betty and Veronica...

...well, okay, that last example's a stretch...

It would be nice to see a few more start-to-finish pieces of Archie art from the various artists. Especially to be able to see the various techniques used by the different inkers and also to get to see the way the artists draw out their scenes. ...and of course, the coloring process!