We have done the first route any number of times, mainly going the opposite way. Memphis has never been that big a deal except for once when there seemed to be some concert or something south of Memphis and there was a traffic slowdown where people we trying to exit the road.
For the most part these mid-sized cities are easier to go thru than spend an hour or more going around. Not to include someplace like Chicago or LA of course. My wife has a major aversion to St Louis tho and has since we went thru it 20 or 25 years ago. So I divert around that town. Atlanta is another no big deal town.