Lighter, leaner Lenius shows up at Riders’ camp

A change in diet led to a change in explosiveness for Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Brayden Lenius.

The second-season CFL pro has lost 26 pounds since the last time he took the field in 2019. He now weighs in at 215 pounds.

“(I) just want to be more successful in my position and with Cory (Watson) departing last year, I knew I had to take the next step,” Lenius told media on Friday following training-camp practice. “I also got to be with (receivers coach) Travis Moore for the 2020 off-season for a bit before COVID hit.

“I’m now plant-based. I’m a pescetarian. I’ll still eat fish because I’m from the coast — I can’t not — but the diet played a huge role. But my consistency (working out) over the last 18 months is what did it.”

While he made the change for football reasons, the death of his dad — Troy Dickey — also played a role.

Dickey was a receiver with the Riders in 1995. He died from a stroke suffered just days before Lenius played in the 2017 Fiesta Bowl with the University of Washington Huskies. Dickey was 46.

“My dad passed away pretty young and he was like me when he was young,” said Lenius, a 24-year-old who was born in Regina. “But he died at a heavy weight, so it put an extra stress on that (for me).

“I want to live my life right, not just with football but outside of that. But football was most important. I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now.”

While he has shown great discipline when it comes to his diet, Lenius admits he has been tempted by an old favourite.

“I’m a huge chicken wing fanatic and that’s the hardest for me because I always want to pick one up and eat it,” Lenius said. “I’ll get those buffalo cauliflower bites. It’s still the same sauce.”

The Riders also had a part to play in his transformation.

Head coach Craig Dickenson said the team asked Lenius to come into 2019 bigger so they could use him as a tight end-type player.

“After a full season of that, we realized that probably wasn’t the right fit for him, so going into 2020, we told Brayden, ‘We want you to drop weight, we want you to train as a receiver and want you to come back as a receiver, not as a bigger tight end or inside slot.’ So we told him to lose weight, but after that it was all him,” Dickenson said.

The Roughriders could look at starting two Canadians at receiver with Lenius, Justin McInnis, Mitch Picton, Jake Harty, Kian Schaffer-Baker and Terrell Jana all vying for spots.

“Just to have Canadian talent and be able to show that we can play just as well, it’s important,” Lenius said. “If you look at the Canadian Air (Force with Rob Bagg, Andy Fantuz and Chris Getzlaf), they had three Canadians rolling and they were successful. I kind of want to bring that back.”

Roughriders fans will get a chance to see Lenius and other members of the team on Saturday. Practice is open to the public for the first time this season. Practice begins at 10:30 a.m.

Notes: The number of injuries for the Riders is growing. Offensive lineman Mattland Riley (back), wide receiver Randy Satterfield (groin) and defensive end Keion Adams (leg) all exited practice early. Defensive end Jordan Reaves has been kept out of practice for a couple days due to Achilles tightness. Receiver Jordan Williams-Lambert (hand) was kept out of practice while defensive tackle Micah Johnson and defensive back Nick Marshall were given the day off … Defensive back AJ Hendy had a good day, picking off quarterbacks Cody Fajardo and Tom Flacco. Dickenson also said Lenius, defensive back Blace Brown, defensive back Godfrey Onyeka and wide receiver Ricardo Louis had good practices.