It's a good design and trade practice issue, and not limited to just above dropped ceiling.
Let's begin with the obvious: There's no law that says all the wires have to pass through every box, and boxes come in many sizes. There's also a role for more than one type of wire connector.
In a typical such situation, I tend to have my 'home runs' go to a large, deep metal box. Either the box is in some place like an attic, with a blank plate cover .... or it's behind the first device. Deep? I might even use an extension ring for more depth or more connection points.
Then there's the fine point of ID of your neutral wires. While not strictly necessary, I find it reassuring to be able to confirm that I'm using the 'right' neutral. I usually mark them with a single colored stripe, using a Sharpie.
It's really nice if you can run the un-used (at that point) wires straight through the boxes. Failing that, it's time for something besides wire nuts.
"Ordinary" Wagos, or the Ideal In-sure connectors, are permanent; you can't remove the wires without damaging things. I use these where I want to make it difficult to open up the connection.
Where a device pigtail attaches, or I can forsee any circumstance that requires the wires to separate, I like the Wagos with the tiny levers. These let you remove individual wires without disturbing the other connections. I especially like this for neutrals on multi-wire circuits.
The final detail is the use of wire numbers, as well as colors, to identify things.
If you're using MC as your method, use the blue circuit for the devices closest to the panel. Then you can 'downsize' to red, and finally only black, as you move along - not having to reidentify anything.
