Anyone who follows the Cincinnati Bengals knows the value the team's defense places on statistics relative to scoring defense. Forget total defense rankings, which are based on yards allowed, coordinator Paul Guenther has said. To him, it's all about keeping the opposing offense off the scoreboard.

That approach paid off in 2015, when the Bengals ranked second in scoring defense, trailing Seattle by an average of 0.1 points.

Though that statistic was important to the Bengals last season, what are some others that will matter for them in 2016? We're spending the next couple of days examining three stats that could bear watching this fall.

We begin with:

A.J. Green's percentage of targets per routes run

2015 stat: 25.7 percent

2016 expectation: This stat will be higher

The lowdown: Cincinnati's passing offense was in a relative zone last season. After a disastrous 2014 that saw the Bengals lose two of their pass-catching weapons for the entire season, and have another hobbled for big chunks of it, just about everything went right in 2015. With no major health concerns for their receivers and tight ends last season, Bengals quarterbacks were able to divvy up the passing load to multiple players. Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert had large roles as receivers, and Green continued to dominate in much the way he has throughout his career. Only this time, because the Bengals had so many quality passing options for arguably the first time since Green was drafted in 2011, he was targeted comparatively little as opposed to how he had been used in past years.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Green was targeted on 25.7 percent of the routes he ran last season. That was the highest mark among the Bengals' primary passing options. But it also was the lowest percentage of targets Green has drawn per routes run in his entire career. Until last season, his percentage of targets per routes run had been incrementally increasing. In 2014, a season that saw him slowed by toe and head injuries, Green drew his highest percentage of targets per routes run (34.1). Much of that was because of the importance the team placed on using him when he was healthy because of season-long injuries to Jones and Eifert.

This season, the Bengals might be forced into using Green in a similar fashion. After Jones and Sanu signed elsewhere in free agency, large holes opened at the No. 2 and No. 3 receiver positions. The Bengals did sign Brandon LaFell to occupy one of those roles. They also drafted Tyler Boyd and Cody Core, but the Bengals are well aware that there might be a transition period for the rookies. Then there's also second-year receiver Mario Alford and third-year receiver James Wright, who were afterthoughts in 2015 because of inexperience and injury. The bottom line is, the Bengals have depth at receiver and tight end, but there is a lot of uncertainty about how that depth will pan out.

For that reason, it shouldn't be surprising if Green gets targeted on more routes this season than he did in the last.