Oklahoma begins pre-season training camp this week and the Sooners will have some questions answered in August.

In this series, Sooners on SI attempt to provide some answers ahead of camp.

Next up is Oklahoma’s special teams.

Oklahoma opened a trapping competition during spring training.

Zach Schmit has underperformed in his two seasons as OU’s place kicker, making just 15 of 21 attempts last year while making 12 of 18 field goals in 2022.

Early indications point to Florida State transfer Tyler Keltner as favorite to win the job in 2024.

Brent Venables said this last week during an OU coaching clinic, but the competition will continue for a long time during the training camp that starts this week.

Keltner was called upon for just one extra point last year with the Seminoles after transferring from East Tennessee State University.

With the Buccaneers, Keltner made a personal best 56 of 74 field goals.

The two-time All-Southern Conference kicker holds an ETSU record with 54 career yards and has been perfect on 131 of 131 PATs.

The Sooners don’t need Keltner to consistently make 50-yard kicks, but he does need to hit the chip shots in key moments, something Schmit struggles with with Norman.

Gavin Freeman’s The decision to transfer to Oklahoma State after spring training likely won’t have a major impact on OU’s offense, but it did open up a spot at the punt returner position.

Freeman threw for 18 punts for 122 yards and a score last year, including an 82-yard touchdown in the season opener.

As his confidence waned throughout the year, Freeman’s impact on special teams also diminished.

LV Bunkley-Shelton was Oklahoma’s backup punt returner, but he too is gone, leaving plenty of room for competition.

Jalil Farooq serves as OU’s kickoff return man, where he totaled 422 yards on 19 returns last year, but the Sooners have plenty of athletes who can be successful with the ball in their hands as well.

Both Billy Sagittarius And Peyton Bowen were productive high school returnees.

Purdue Transfer Deion Burks has experience returning kickoffs, but he has not returned any punts for the Boilermakers.

As long as the returner can keep the ball, they have a chance to improve on Freeman’s work last year, when he struggled to turn the field for the Sooners when Oklahoma was deep in the league.

Oklahoma’s special teams had some highlights last year, usually when Bowen tried to disrupt the punts, but otherwise they were riddled with errors.

Farooq botched the kickoff against Tulsa, and while it didn’t cost the Sooners, the kickoff was mucked up by the upback. Marcus Stripling on a surprise deep onsidekick against Kansas was a backbreaker.

The Sooners also helped Texas get back to the Red River Shootout with a failed reverse on a kickoff return, pinning the ball. Dillon Gabriel and the attack deep in the burnt orange section of the Cotton Bowl.

Oklahoma also saw a successful fake punt overturned against BYU due to a controversial pass interference flag, but the 2022 execution that produced a handful of successful special teams tricks is gone.

Jay Nunez went to Alabama in the offseason, giving Venables the opportunity to hire the special teams ace from San Diego State Doug Deakin.

Now that analysts can coach during practices, Deakin should be able to make an impact as the new addition to Oklahoma’s staff.

The benefits of Deakin’s work won’t be immediately apparent during training camp, but the Sooners will need all the positive influence they can get from the special teams team as OU returns to playing tight football games in one of the nation’s toughest schedules.