Hey,  I'm experimenting with a new plugin idea, and based on documentation it looks like ddraw is reserved for players who are admin.  Does anyone know:
1) Are there non-admin alternatives for ddraw, to render text or other items in the game world, on a higher layer (like ESP, NOT UI)
2) Is there a way with FauxAdmin or some other plugin?
3) If no to both of the above, is temporarily setting the admin flag immediately before the ddraw command, and revoking it after, an acceptable/safe method to accomplish this?

It cannot be completely 100% safe, but it's still used in a few plugins so you can use it. You may set only Developer flag to prevent any access to admin commands.

Any alternatives to ddraw?  Can we just straight up render stuff with Unity?

No, there is limited client access from the Rust server.

I was able to render Spheres, but that is not client side only (although I am potentially okay with that, vs giving admin flag).  Will experiment more.

Yes, spheres are possible (see Zone Domes plugin), but most aspects are not possible such as editing the UI, changing character models, etc.