Honest question... Why is the right guard more important than the left guard? I understand the importance of the left tackle in a drop back passing offense to protect a right-handed QB's blind side. Is there an analogous reason that the right side is more vulnerable in an option offense?
Even though the flexbone is a balanced formation, not all linemen are equal in ability. There will still typically be a "strong side" and "weak side" that is determined by quality of linemen rather than whether a tight end is located on the left or right. If you go back to say 2014 and watch GT games, you can see that the majority of runs are called to the right side behind Shaq Mason. Go even further back and they were called predominantly behind Uzzi. One of the best examples is the 2014 Georgia game. In overtime, they ran every play behind the right side (with only one play being an option). The rest were all power plays (Belly G). These power plays involved no post-snap reads...just a straight handoff to the B-back. To be fair, it does not have to be the right guard..it could be the left guard, but it should be ONE of the guards for the following reasons:
You can think of the right guard as the "go to" linemen where you want to run the football when you are relying on a matchup advantage for that play. Of course, doing it too much can be compensated for by the defense, but then that opens up other play-calling possibilities. If your best run blocking o-linemen is at right guard, then that should force your opponent to place their best run stopping d-linemen there. It is just one of the ways that Johnson can dictate where and how the opposing defense has to play him [Johnson]. If you cannot find a right guard that is a dominating player, then you probably don't dominate anywhere along the line and you are forced to rely much more on finesse/deception in your play-calling rather than outright strength (i.e. the necessary strategy of a weaker team). As Johnson has said before you can't out-trick your opponents all the time. You have to be able to line up and beat them SOMEWHERE with relative frequency.
Also, Right handed quarterbacks can also run play-action a little faster to the right (since they do not have to rotate any to set their feet for a throw). It may only buy you a fraction of a second, but that can mean the difference between the qb getting the ball thrown and getting hit with the ball still coming out of his hand. So, rolling your qb to the right more frequently requires pass protection to be more sound on the right, since they are actually required to pass block for a slightly longer duration to provide time for the qb.
Finally, the base play is the triple option. Most defenses have some interior d-lineman whose technique requires him to cover the guards. Most of the time it's some form of a 4-3 alignment. These players MUST be blocked if a crease is to be created for the B-back; ideally, they can be blocked by one o-linemen instead of a combo block with another o-lineman (thus the need for a game-changer at guard). You can option the next d-lineman out (the read key), but the d-lineman inside the read key must be neutralized or your just in for a very long day. This is the task for both guards, but you expect the right guard to do it right with the most frequency. If the right guard can't do it (because the defensive tackle is just too much of a beast), then you may have to run midline option and make the inside lineman the read key). When you do that you are pretty much conceding that your guards need help because they cannot be relied upon to block the defensive tackle with any frequency. On the other hand a right guard who can singlehandedly get movement on the DT and knock him off the ball is gonna make the B-back crease larger and larger, creating an easier read for both the qb read and b-back when he decides to make a cut. You might say, "Why not just run triple to the opposite side?". You can do that, but you typically do not have the matchup advantage at guard on the other side. It may work well form time to time, but it cannot be relied upon to work frequently against equal or better competition. Often it may require combo blocks from the center or tackle and this may impede the center or tackle from getting to the 2nd (or 3rd) level fast enough for a critical downfield block. Sorry to ramble on, but it basically comes down to having strength somewhere along the line. Since the guards take on the best run defenders on the line of scrimmage AND since this offense has a strong inside running component, then hopefully it's now more obvious why you'd want to have an area where a dominant o-lineman could make a big difference.