I do not think it hurts much if the panniers are a bit higher.
The photos posted by Indyfabz above suggest his panniers are positioned so that the bottom of the panniers is maybe three inches below axle height.
On my Sherpa (26 inch wheels) I use a Tubus Ergo low rider rack. That has the center of the front panniers set at about axle height. But I did have a close call about eight years ago, a car crowded me into the edge of a road and I scrapped the bottom of a pannier on a curb, did not crash but it was close. After that I wished my panniers were a bit higher.
My Lynskey Backroad (700c wheels) I have a Tubus Tara and the fork on the bike is from a LHT. That also puts the weight at axle height, but with 700c wheels the pannier is a bit higher off the ground.
My Nomad (26 ionch wheels) has a cheap rack by Axiom, it has the position for the pannier upper hooks several inches higher than the mid-fork rack mount. I added some bracing to the rack but that is off topic.
With that higher position, the bottom of my front panniers is up almost as high as the bottom of the rear panniers. That does not cause any impaired handling on this bike. Rear panniers are hanging on a Tubus Ergo EVO that sets the panniers a bit lower than normal.
On this bike I like the higher ground clearance on the front panniers because I have taken this bike off road.
On all three of those bikes in the photos I have rain gear strapped on top of the front panniers, so the total load on the front rack is a bit higher than normal.