I can't think of any benefit of home row typing other than it's easy to teach in a prescriptive manner.
That and chiclet keyboards being so much more comfortable to use than big chunky keys
Opposite to you though, I find "desktop" keys (or I should say, keys with travel) preferable to "laptop" keys. Bottoming out each key on every stroke on a Macbook for years started giving me weird typing-spelling issues (some sort of precursor to focal dystonia? dunno). Keys with long travel prevent that for me. (Or maybe it's just because that's what I learned on – Apple //e keyboard.)
Biggest improvement to my typing QOL was getting one of those split keyboards[1]. I can rotate the two pieces independently so that my forearm-wrist-hand-fingers system form a straight, relaxed line, both pointing a little towards each other. This is much more comfortable than the outward-splaying pose that most single-piece keyboards force your wrists into. I'm convinced this will reduce the risk of RSI and other hand injuries as I age. Stops me from hunching and constricting my chest too; it allows for a better upper back posture and deeper breathing.
Secondary benefit is being able to remap the keys, particularly punctuation, into more reachable places.
[1] Moonlander Mk1, but really any split one will do.
I grew up playing multiplayer games on PC, and my natural resting spots sound similar to yours: straight wrists, left hand defaults closer to a-w-d than a-s-d-f.
I avoid most pinky use outside of modifier keys, and there aren't strict finger-letter assignments. Middle of the keyboard gets hit by whatever hand makes it more likely to alternate nicely while typing a word.
Main benefit I see is that I know a lot of folks my age now complaining of RSI when typing, and I don't seem to have any of that (mouse related - yes, keyboard - no).
Funny since I didn't really make much association, but I also was learning to play piano at the same time I was learning to type.
Gaming was a lot more of an incentive to learn how to type quickly back in the days where you could only communicate with text chat.
If you want to minimize the time it takes to travel to a particular key, it makes sense to keep your fingers at the "center of mass" of the keyboard... which is the home row.
Space and Caps-lock are enough to orient me on any keyboard I've used for more than a minute or two. Space and Enter orient on the right hand.
Basically - if my left pinky is touching the line between caps lock and shift on the left side of those keys, and my thumb is touching the bottom of the space bar, I know exactly where my middle fingers are resting.
With the added bonus of not contorting my wrist and fingers into a very uncomfortable space.
I have very large hands, and the "Proper" finger placement would be a guaranteed RSI injury for me.
Different keyboards with macros or weirdly formatted buttons throw me for a loop with this method though, while the f and j keys guarantee correct positioning.