No. 23 — LB Bo Bower

No. 23 . . .

When the 2013 Iowa linebackers made their big strides on the field, their mantra was 'know where your help is.' This was something you could hear being said repeatedly on the sideline during the 2013 August scrimmage.

Linebackers coach Jim Reid said the concept is to learn the defense 'inside to outside,' so the shifting alignments allow the linebackers to be where they need to be. This should be where you see some improvement from the same players in the same defense. Simply put, they've accepted the assignment and are dedicated to picking up the few steps that were lost in translation as rookies in 2014.

'It's not all physical talent that allows to you make a TFL (tackle for loss), to make a sack, to make a great play,' Reid said. 'It's having anticipation. It's reading the line of scrimmage. It's seeing the splits. It's knowing what the formation is. It's knowing what the down and distance is.'

That whole preamble works for sophomore Bo Bower's point of view for 2015.

The West Branch native won the outside linebacker position out of August camp last fall. He had ups and downs and plateaus and peaks during the season (38 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions). The 6-1, 228-pounder was pulled in the second half of the TaxSlayer Bowl game and replaced by sophomore Ben Niemann, who's now the outside linebacker. Bower has since moved to the weakside and appears to have held on to the job going into August camp.

During the spring game, Bower started at WLB with the first team. He switched out when senior Travis Perry moved into the middle and sophomore Josey Jewell slid to the weakside.

Reid is searching for the right combo. And even then, that could shift by opponent, by down and distance. When specifically asked this spring why Bower was moved inside, Reid said:

'What we are trying to do now is have all the positions be fluid, so we can go from inside to outside,' Reid said. 'There's a lot of shifting that goes on. It's good with our offense that we're able to move Bo inside. Certainly, we've got him working a little bit outside.

'Like I said, all the positions are fluid. You'll see Josey Jewell, I don't know how much time you're allowed to practice today, but in scrimmages, you'll see him play outside, get outside the core, as well, to give him some real good work. So, we are just trying to slide the backers to wherever the strength of the foundation might be.'

That probably continues through August.

Almost UNI . . .

In August 2013, Bo Bower had a broken thumb, was a walk-on and was probably a million miles from anyone's imaginary depth chart.

If you rewind far enough into his recent past, you'll find that the former West Branch prep once committed to Northern Iowa. He could've very well been on the other sideline in Iowa's 31-23 victory over the Panthers in last season's opener.

'I was pretty close, but I'm a Hawk,' Bower said. The Bower train picked up steam in August camp, when he showed up as the starter at outside linebacker on Aug. 16. Then, he was awarded a scholarship. Against UNI, he picked off a pass and recorded a key sack in his first career start.

Outlook . . .

Head coach Kirk Ferentz has said you can flip a coin as far as starters among five linebackers — Bower, Jewell, Niemann, Perry and Cole Fisher. Not everyone is going to get what they want.

Niemann's rise to OLB starter certainly has changed Bower's profile. Of the five, Niemann seems to be on the most solid ground for playing time. Can Bower hold up on the inside at 228 pounds? He'll need another great August to put himself in that position.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com