To get back on topic, You all must have seen the controversy over PA's antler restrictions. It hasnt worked perfectly, but it certainly has improved the age class and therefore quality of our bucks overall. AR's arent QDM. But in a state like ours, and yours, with the hunting pressure the deer have to deal with, it will cause an improvement in the average age and therefore the antler quality of your bucks.
As you say, AR's probably improve antler size due to letting bucks live an extra year or two. No one will convince me that there are ANY other benefits to the herd in general. Whether a buck gets shot at 1 1/2, 2 1/2, or any other age makes NO difference in controlling deer numbers which is why deer hunting seasons are established in the first place. Any AR restrictions that are put in effect are solely to make the hunters who value antlers happy and give them some hope that they will one day shoot a big buck since they apparently can't kill one otherwise. There is absolutely NO other value to them in my opinion. If hunters would just get this horn mentality out of their heads they might enjoy the outdoors a whole lot more and be complaining a whole lot less!