Oxygen Sensor on 340 HP Exhaust

I don't understand why they need to be so close to the manifold. My Dakota/ Ram is nowhere near that close. They are "clear down" by the transmission
Definitely can’t answer that, my best guess would be that through testing that’s where they found it to work the best. My wife’s 01 Ram has (4) o2 sensors. (2) before the cat and (2) after the cat. The 2 before the cat are pretty close to the manifolds.