I think the run D woes start with the interior.
The NTs and 1 techs in the Broncos game were getting walked back into the 2nd level and the rest of the DL wasn't consistently winning 1 on 1s. Then our LBs outside of Davis, who's lost a step, are inexperienced and are missing gap assignments. Werner being out hurts, but we could use another young, dominant player there with high end tools for development.
Safeties have been mediocre against the run. Honey Badger is not a physical, attacking presence in the run game and the other spot is manned by backup quality players.
Alontae Taylor has been pretty good against the run coming out of the slot, and is a willing tackler with good length, but he doesn't sift through traffic and make dynamic tackles behind the LOS quite as well as Chauncey Gardner did.
Starts with Free Agency and then the draft, and then requires some patience for young players to develop and improve.
Free Agency is hard to predict who actually ends up available, and our cap management style makes it impossible to know what to expect for spending. I imagine we'll do what we did last year - cheap affordable options in wave 2 or 3 of FA to massage the future cap, while adding 1 prominent name player coming off injury or a down year to a short term prove it deal for solid money at a key position of need (think Chase Young) to see if they can rebound.
Free Agency:
System fit vet WR who can win inside and offers RAC ability to move the chains who can man WR 1 or 2 in case of injury issues while Means develops. Prominent starter at Safety if Honey Badger leaves and wave 2 or 3 Strong Safety if Honey Badger is extended since the safety market is always an affordable place to shop in the off-season. Either trade Saunders or hope for rebound performance.
Example Options:
FS - Extend Honey Badger 1 year
DE - Extend Chase Young 2 years
WR - Chris Godwin on prove it deal coming off injury
Safety - Jevon Holland in wave 1 or Vonn Bell wave 2
Draft (currently looking at drafting at 5, but I do expect closer to 8-10):
R1 - DT or WR @5, OT/DE/WR @10
R2 - BPA that slips like short arm OT that moves to OG, DT, Safety, TE
R3 - Developmental Safety/Linebacker/OG
R4, R5, R7- BPA Depth
Between picks 5-10, we'll have a shot at a blue chip prospect in a draft that is said to not have many. There are quite a few OT prospects slated for mid 1st to 2nd round, and a couple of the popular names have been considered as OGs due to arm length. The DT class is expected to be pretty good, with late round 1-2 guys. The safety class is expected to be pretty good, with good options in round 2-3. DE has some talented guys that haven't put it all together. TE has a couple late 1st to early 2nd guys, but a big drop off after that.
Example:
R1 - Mason Graham DT (instant starter)
R2 - Wyatt Milium OT (possible starter at OT or OG, or primary backup)
R3 - Nick Emmanwori SS/NB (year 1 dime player or possible starter at SS)
I think you hope to come away from the draft with 1 decent rookie starter, 1 low end starter or 2nd string backup, and a couple developmental depth pieces. Any more than that is unreasonable expectations for year 1 after a draft IMO. But if we can hit on a couple draft picks and a couple FAs, I think we have a more solid looking situation going into 2025.