NFL Head Coach Power Rankings from USA Today are a joke

The Cincinnati Bengals have had a lot of success under Marvin Lewis, and it's become clear over the years that the rest of the NFL wants in on the action.

Since Lewis took over in 2003, many coaches have come to Cincinnati and left to find greener pastures elsewhere while also making a little more green with their promotions to head coaches. Over the past three seasons, three coordinators have left to become head coaches.

It first began in 2014 when the Bengals watched offensive coordinator Jay Gruden leave to become head coach in Washington. That same year, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer became head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

Both Gruden and Zimmer brought their teams to the postseason in their second seasons as head coach, though, both saw first round exits, a fate they suffered many times with the Bengals.

Earlier this offseason, offensive coordinator Hue Jackson left to become head coach of the Cleveland Browns. While Jackson has shown a lot of promise as a potential head coach in this league, it's only been potential, not results.

Apparently, potential is what matters most to the guys at USA Today Sports. Their latest power ranking of all 32 NFL coaches has Lewis coming in at No. 19, which seems like a bit of a slight for a coach coming off five-straight playoff berths and a 12-win season.

19. Marvin Lewis, Bengals

One thing you can say about Lewis is he knows how to pick his coordinators. In the last two years, he's seen three of his play-callers leave for head jobs. And despite all of that coaching talent under him, and all the talent he has on the roster, he has yet to lead the Bengals to a playoff victory.

But they took it a step further by actually ranking Jackson and two other former Bengals coordinators who were once under Lewis as better coaches than Lewis himself.

It starts with Jackson coming in at No. 18, a pretty high ranking for a coach with only an 8-8 season with the Oakland Raiders under his head-coaching belt.

18. Hue Jackson, Browns

A year from now, Jackson could crack the top-10 on this list. His quarterback-friendly offense should get Robert Griffin III's career back on track — maybe not 2012 levels, but close. I've learned not to doubt Jackson after he turned Andy Dalton into an MVP candidate. Don't be surprised if the Bengals offense falls off with Jackson leaving for Cleveland.

After going 13-19 in his first two years as a head coach, Gruden has apparently become a better coach than Lewis in the process, unbeknownst to most sensible people.

17. Jay Gruden, Redskins

Say what you want about Gruden's handling of the RG3 situation, the man knows how coach up an offense. He makes things easy for Kirk Cousins, setting up simple either/or reads that put the ball in his playmakers' hands in space. Washington led the league in yards after catch in 2015, according to SportingCharts.com.

And finally, while just about any Bengals fan will tell you they love Zimmer and what he's done, calling him a top-five coach right now is far too big of a stretch for a guy that's gone 18-14 in his first two seasons with no playoff wins.

4. Mike Zimmer, Vikings

Zimmer is the most creative defensive play-caller in the league. And more importantly, he knows how to develop young talent. Case in point: It took him only two years to turn Anthony Barr, who was seen as a raw prospect who would take some time to develop, into an All-pro caliber player. The Vikings defense is going to be very good for a very long time.

What do you think of these rankings?