This is so easy to say. But the truth is that without feats, 5e is simply not crunchy enough.
I don't want to be "ready for the damage spike". Far better if the very few feats that contribute mostly to this were scaled back or changed or outright removed.
Feats are good. But some feats are not. I don't want to ban all feats because some aren't designed well.
So, no, that's not something I "need to know". I want and expect better from WotC.
It's not crunchy enough by design (at least one of my players agrees with you and he is super unhappy with the lack of splat books providing options, it's boring him.). That is why feats are optional. The game works well without feats. That means you're on your own balancing feats. You have to come up with a balance point that works at your table because WotC is not going to spend much time (if any) balancing an optional rule that if causing problems can be removed. I've given up on the idea that WotC plans to balance the game with feats in mind or officially change feats. This is like D&D on life support as near as I can tell. The D&D staff at WotC is keeping a game Hasbro doesn't care about in its Pen and Paper form alive. This is the most sparse version of D&D I can recall. It's saving me money, but at the same time it is pretty boring as far as purchase options. If you're not buying modules, you have nothing to spend your money on.