This doesn't directly answer your question about the OW elite policy, but in general I have noticed AS getting stricter about exit row seating. Assuming I remember all of this correctly: it used to be available only to elites in advance, and then to anyone (for free) during OLCI. Then a year or two ago they started letting anyone select an exit row seat in advance for a fee, but it was still free during OLCI. And finally, relatively recently, they updated the logic again so that non-elites can no longer select the exit row for free during OLCI (they still need to pay, unless you are lucky enough to be auto-assigned to the exit row).

I wouldn't be surprised if any one of these changes affected the logic that governed exit row seat selection for OW elites, but unfortunately I don't have an answer for you.