The article below was submitted by Ira Kerker, whose Two 84 Gators team just concluded the 2006 football season with a fourth place finsih in the consolation bracket of the National Fantasy Football Championship.

Never ever give up on your fantasy football team! It only takes a few minutes a week to set your best lineup and even if you think your season is over, it is time well spent.

I have been a subscriber to CREATiVESPORTS.com for years. Using their football draft kit, I have cashed in national fantasy football leagues in the past three years. (WCOFF in 2004 and 2005 and NFFC in 2006). The draft kit is the only player-ranking information I use and I have found it to be an invaluable tool. I have tracked myself against the CREATiVESPORTS writers and even had breakfast with three of them before this year’s NFFC draft in New York. My team easily outperformed teams owned by Marc Meltzer, Brian Walton, and Lori Rubinson this year. The question asked of me was why?

I find that flexibility is the key to the draft. The “experts” tend to have their heart set on certain players and if they don’t acquire them they walk away frustrated. They have a tendency to chase the player they have been scouting for the past two months and over estimate their draft position, causing them to miss out on values early in the draft. My advice: don’t be afraid to miss your favorite player in lieu of a higher ranked player that has fallen to your draft spot. If you play for fun, take your favorite player. If you play to win, take the player that has fallen.

As you can guess from my lead in, I finished 4th in the consolation round of the 2006 NFFC and won a free entry to 2007 NFFC draft. My team was a player short all year as my third round pick (Jamal Lewis), my fourth round pick (Rod Smith), and my fifth round pick (Kevan Barlow) were all busts. So how did I have such a good team?

My plan was to go running back / running back from the number five draft slot with my first two picks. After nailing Steven Jackson with the first round pick, the CREATiVESPORTS experts ranked Reggie Bush as the “next” best back in the second round. However, when it was time for me to pick, Marvin Harrison was still on the board. My decision to break strategy and take Harrison (a better value) instead of Bush is the main reason I did so well in the consolation round.

My advice, as we all prepare for fantasy baseball season, is to use the CREATiVESPORTS.com draft kit for player rankings and have a game plan but don’t be afraid to miss your must have player for a better proven player who you did not think would fall to your draft spot. And never give up on setting your lineup each week; you never know when your team could heat up and cash, even in a consolation round.