The text box is back!
I think I value window seats over larger footwells in bulkhead seats, so if 9A/L don't work out I will stick to rows 3/7/11 going forward. Row 5 is out due to missing window, and row 1 is out due to chatty crews tending to congregate in the forward galley.
That said, I have my first couple of long-haul 787 rides coming up (assuming/hoping neither of them gets swapped to the old configuration), and I've selected rows 7 and 9 to do a head-to-head of bulkhead vs non-bulkhead for myself. I've done many long-hauls in non-bulkhead 777/767 seats, which are my preference as I find the 777/767 footwells sufficiently sized and like to eliminate all risk of noise and light pollution. However, I know the 787 footwells are somewhat smaller, and am curious to see if the non-bulkhead footwells are so small that I accept the risks associated with bulkhead seats on future flights.