I’ve played rhythm guitar for many years and it is not unusual for a musician to anticipate runs on a tune. I cannot deny that this tune, along with many others, are “influenced” by SRG, where I disagree is that it “is” the SGR with a few minor tweaks. I just don’t hear it that way. However, I do appreciate your comments and the fact we both enjoy this music and listen to it with a fine ear.
I would wildly speculate that someone said, “let’s make a SGR that is bluesy.” So they slowed it way down, but retained the underling current provided by F sharp, when playing in the key of E, to give the tune a power boost. While this is not peculiar to SGR alone, it wasn’t that common, either. Various other melody fragments are these, too. We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, fellow guitar picker. :)