I think some of the gain of dribbling fertilizer right near the plants is negated by it sitting on the surface. In a dry spell that's not good for your ROI or crop utilization. 

I can't find it now but I have seen a few studies comparing Y drop to injected side dress. Timing was the same, rates the same, product the same. It was the same as far as yields go and was over a few years. 

Cost of sidedress vs y drop? Crop damage between the two? If you really dig into it, probably not a huge difference unless you're hiring one vs doing the other yourself or yada yada. 

I like splitting the N apps, but which split.....don't really care either way.