Can't edit client articles, can i still rank his articles?

I recently got a very confusing client, he has a general physical magazine and writes articles about 2 separate regions of the world ( different topics related to each region, sometimes the topic can include both regions)

He wants to do SEO for his website (home page + articles).

However , I can't edit his content, am limited to tags,metas,images,backlinks...

Question one : Should I only try to rank his home page for the magazine name aka his business name ? ( home page only has links to articles )

Question 2: Is it really possible to rank his articles without editing his content?

Question 3 :

ANY random advice for people who already worked with news websites or magazines?

I appreciate it guys 🙏🙏