Booked a flight on a 738 from LGA to MSP recently. Upon selecting my seat, I noticed that nearly every 'Preferred' seat has been booked, spare the two exit rows which are completely open.

Is there any rationale for why you would choose another preferred seat over an exit row? It's only a 3 hour flight, so the lack of seat cushioning that some complain about is far outweighed by the extra legroom IMO. Do you prefer to be closer to the front, as opposed to 8-9 rows back? Just trying to wrap my head around this