Camshafts and Compression

No. Prods are weakest halfway along their length. That is where they will bend unless in contact with some other part of the engine.
Put a spacer in the bottom of the prod, about 1" up from the bottom. Use a lathe for precise cuts & to keep the prod straight. Get some steel tube, 0.040-.060" wall thickness that is a neat fit over the prod. Slide the tube over the prod sections with spacer in place & equal amount of tube either side of the spacer. Silver solder the tube to each side of the prod. Sil sol will flow into the joint by capillary action, making a very strong joint. Black oxide prods will have to be wire brushed back to bare metal. As an example, if after cleaning up the the prod ends, you need a 1/4" spacer, I would make the tube 3/4" long. You can use an old prod to make the spacers. You are adding some weight, but it is minimal.

I would do some measuring first BEFORE going to longer prods to try & get an idea if longer prods are going to make a worthwhile difference.

Crane brought out quick lift rockers for the SBC. The idea was to get the valves open early to get the flow going. Crane did that by lowering the prod seat in the rocker...