Personally, there's no way I'd not have fenders on my daily rider. It is 100% fact that I stay cleaner and much dryer with fenders. I've ridden without them plenty, and since having nice ones that really wrap around the tire, there's just no comparison when riding on wet roads. I actually tend to go a step further than most and get the fender that hangs down lowest in front and then add a nice big flap to the bottom of it.
I don't really see needing 2" tires if you're on maintained gravel and paved roads. I wouldn't bother with that, and agree with cyccommute that you're just hauling extra weight that you don't need. I've ridden a gravel rail-to-trail Many times on my 700x35c Vittoria Hypers(very smooth road tread) and literally Never had a problem. I'd think a 40mm+ Almotion would be plenty of tire. Run that with some nice full wrap fenders on the Saga(I'm jealous, btw) and you'll have a pretty sweet set-up.
As for the fender disaster pic, I'm not saying it's wrong or a terrible idea to run fenders on a bike with knobby tread, but personally, I would avoid that. I would definitely use a fender with the quick release attachments if I did. The stick has a nice spot on the tire to wedge against and push into your fender/hardware. I've had things get sucked up between my tire and fender a couple times, where you could hear they were squished between the two, but never had anything get jammed up.