The challenge of barbell deadlifting is that most people have poor hamstring mobility that deeply compromises their ability to reach the bar without back bendin

The challenge of barbell deadlifting is that most people have poor hamstring mobility that deeply compromises their ability to reach the bar without back bending. Back squats have the "advantage" that even if you have mobility issues, you can at least start in a safe position and limit your range of motion (though they also have huge challenges and injury potential). To adapt a barbell deadlift you need to raise the bar off the ground (not hard, but also annoying, and a lot of people don't do it). In any case, I'd say most barbell exercises are actually quite advanced and challenging motions to learn. Just look at how many videos there try trying to teach you "how to fix your deadlift", aimed at "experienced" lifters and athletes. The reality is that the barbell deadlift is almost unique amongst exercises in how much you are working around your equipment. You literally have to learn how to sequence your lift to make sure you don't bash the bar into your knees (body geometry dependent). To riff on that even more (and to link back to the article) - if you were going to program in only a single lower body exercise, I'd probably pick the lunge (+dumbbells) for its relative safety, greater balance amongst muscle groups (major and stabilizing), being somewhat dynamic (especially if you step into it), being unilateral.