A month ago, Nick Leckey was a long shot to make the Rams’ 53-man roster. Now, he’s making a run at Brett Romberg’s first-team center’s job.

“That’s a fair assessment at this point,” coach Scott Linehan said. “There’s nothing that Brett did do or didn’t do; he just hasn’t been able to be as effective because of his (broken) hand. Nick has gone in there and played really well.”

It ranks as a pretty solid feel-good story. Leckey was a starter for the Cardinals for most of 2005 and ‘06 until new coach Ken Whisenhunt decided he wanted to go with different personnel. Soon Leckey was on the street, released after the second game last year.

Leckey, stunned by the move, signed with the Rams but didn’t suit up until the injuries on the offensive line reached critical mass. He wound up starting three games, but at guard, a position he’d never played before.

It’s been obvious since the spring that Leckey is much better-suited for center, and now he’s proving that he didn’t earn those starts in Arizona for nothing.

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Notes & quotes:

>>Second-year CB Jonathan Wade appears to have won the nickel-back spot.

>>RB Brian Leonard said the sprained right shoulder he suffered Saturday night vs. the Chargers had nothing to do with the shoulder problems he had last year. Leonard had offseason surgery on both joints. His status for Saturday’s third preseason contest, vs. the Ravens at the Dome, is questionable.

>>It looks like T Orlando Pace, coming back from shoulder surgery, might not be 100 percent by the regular-season opener. He’s still working on the mental part of recovering from such a serious injury.

>>QB Marc Bulger threw well in practice Monday. He got a scare when his right shoulder was jolted Saturday, but he reported no ill effects.

>>G Roy Schuening never missed a game at Oregon State, so maybe he has some secret info he can impart to the Rams, who have been brutalized by O-line injuries? Uh, no. . . “It’s all luck,” Schuening said. “There were guy that got hurt all around me. I was real lucky that nothing major every happened to me.”

All for now . . .