Briggs 8.75 Pro Engine; what does the oil filter do?

Have a B&S Professional Series 8.75 on a John Deere walk behind JS46. I am wondering what the smallish oil filter does on it. I replaced the piston & rings about 2 years ago so I had a look inside the case. Seems that there was some sort of channel leading from the filter to the crank bearing. Thus, since this engine has a splash system, I am thinking that maybe the filter has some filtering function regarding the oil to that bearing somehow but doesn't filter the engine as a whole the way a car filter operates.

Didn't think too much about it back then & I have replaced the filter once. Just wondering how critical it is to replace it regularly since I do change the oil on schedule. The filter is about $10 which is kinda high, especially if it isn't that beneficial.

PS - Another reason for some skepticism is because my Honda GCV160 & GCV190 engines don't have filters & those are very long lasting engines.

Engines come
1) splash only
2) splash + pressure to big end
3) full pressure lube

On type 1 & 2 the filter oft only filters the oil which is already in the sump

Because Honda engines are near twice the price of Briggs engines, Honda owners tend to change their oil a tad more frequently.

My JS48 has these. The filter in this is pretty effective with the small sump it works more like a partial bypass filter. There is an aftermarket Oregon replacement which is only about $4. Run some quality synthetic (I use Mobil 1 15W-40 in there and those engines hold up surprisingly well) and you’ll get really good service life out of that engine.