C.J. Beathard is the obvious leader of Iowa's up-and-coming impact players for this season.
What's the difference between a mediocre season and a good one? For a self-described "developmental" program like Iowa, it's contributions from players stepping into larger roles. Here are five players Iowa needs to get their strongest season out of in 2015.
5. Bo Bower, sophomore WLB
Bower was a starting freshman linebacker who was evidently playing out of position at OLB last year, and that worked out about as well as you'd expect, as Iowa was routinely torched on the edge by faster tailbacks in 2014.