What we heard from Robert Steeples about Wisconsin football’s cornerback room
Robert Steeples likes the depth developing in the Badgers cornerback room as several players are pushing for meaningful snaps.
The Wisconsin football cornerback room might not have a traditional position battle by the time fall camp ends.
That doesn’t mean the competition has gone anywhere.
Through 10 practices, cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples has seen several players make meaningful strides. At the same time, the competition between Eric Fletcher and Jai’Mier Scott remains one of the more notable developments in the secondary. But Steeples is increasingly viewing the room less through the lens of who wins a starting job and more through how many players Wisconsin can trust to contribute.
Ohio State transfer Bryce West provides additional versatility, while Cai Bates has taken one of the biggest steps forward since spring practice.
Here were the biggest takeaways from Steeples’ fall camp media availability.
Cai Bates has made the biggest jump since spring
Steeples has seen progress throughout his room, but nobody has changed his evaluation more since spring practice than Bates.
The former Florida State cornerback appeared in seven games as a reserve defensive back and special teams contributor last season, logging just 26 defensive snaps. Now, Bates has begun taking better advantage of the physical tools Wisconsin saw when it brought him into the program.
“I think the biggest jump I’ve seen is probably Cai Bates,” Steeples said. “He’s playing to his size. He’s playing big-corner football. You know what I mean? So I really like seeing that from him.”
That development gives Wisconsin another option on the outside beyond Fletcher and Scott.
Steeples has also seen Scott become more instinctive in coverage, while Fletcher continues challenging himself. West, meanwhile, brings experience after appearing in eight games as a reserve defensive back at Ohio State last season, logging 91 snaps in the secondary and finishing with 10 tackles and a forced fumble. Since arriving at Wisconsin, he has demonstrated the versatility to contribute both outside and in the slot.
The larger point is that Wisconsin’s cornerback rotation appears deeper than it was a year ago, which matters for a secondary that finished 73rd nationally in EPA per dropback. Rather than determining who earns the first snap, Steeples is trying to build a rotation with enough trustworthy options to improve a pass defense that struggled too often last season.
Steeples expects Wisconsin to play several cornerbacks
Fletcher and Scott have spent fall camp competing for work on the outside opposite of Javan Robinson, but Steeples doesn’t necessarily believe one player’s emergence has to eliminate the other.
In fact, he expects the top portion of the room to play.
“That whole top core of our room is going to play,” Steeples said. “So it’s not as much about me beating this guy out, it’s me being ready for my moment and then gathering the information I can while they’re having theirs.”
That has changed the message surrounding the competition.
Steeples still wants players earning snaps and building trust, but he would rather have Fletcher and Scott preparing to contribute than worrying about where they sit on a depth chart.
“A lot of guys in this group are showing and earning,” Steeples said. “We still got a lot of camp to go, but they’re earning the right to play and keep earning the trust of the guys around them.”
Wisconsin also wants complete cornerbacks when those opportunities arrive. That means contributing against the run rather than treating coverage as the only meaningful part of the position.
“If they’re getting in the run game, that’s a chance to make a play and show them what you can do,” Steeples said. “If it’s in the pass game, the same thing. But I like how our guys have stayed really engaged and not only just done the dirty work but embraced and celebrated it.”
Wisconsin wants its cornerbacks thinking like veterans
The physical development matters. Steeples is equally interested in what happens between snaps.
He has emphasized what he calls mental conditioning, teaching his players to use the roughly 30 seconds between plays to process the call, study the opponent, and prepare themselves for the next six seconds of football.
“We do the weightlifting, the drills, the walkthroughs for the six-second play, but there’s 30 other seconds between the snap that a lot of people don’t take advantage of,” Steeples said.
The goal is eventually making those decisions instinctive.
Wisconsin appears to have a player capable of setting that example in J-Rob [Robinson], whom Steeples compared to Floyd Mayweather because of his preparation and ability to process information during competition.
“J-Rob’s going to know his opposition before he matches up with him,” Steeples explained. “But then also he’s going to do a good job computing while he’s out there, breaking them down while he’s in competition.”
Steeples has also noticed that mentality spreading throughout the room.
Players coming off the field are sharing what they saw with teammates. Players waiting for their opportunities are gathering information rather than simply watching. Steeples called the sideline communication more productive and “solution-based” than before. That might be the clearest indication of what Steeples eventually wants to see this room become.
Bates has taken a meaningful step. Fletcher and Scott are competing without viewing every rep as a zero-sum battle. West gives Wisconsin versatility and a high-pedigree talent in the slot, and Robinson exemplifies how Steeples wants the position approached mentally.
Wisconsin still has plenty to sort out before Week 1. But rather than searching for two cornerbacks it can trust, Steeples is increasingly trying to determine just how many of them he can get onto the field.
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