Suspended Ceiling and Duct Conflict

I've spent years pulling and replacing tiles to do cabling for industrial systems. 2'x4' tile grids may well fold up if you cut them. How about going to 2'x2' tiles in that area to keep it stiffer? 3/8" and that top 'box' is most of the vertical strength.

Connect to the duct only as reinforcement to prevent twists and subsequent folding. Not much way to connect them to the duct unless you use some sort of angled tab. And the screws into the grids will interfere with the tiles so use #6 screws IMHO.