Before he hopes to find a new home with an NFL team next fall, former ISU defensive back Ter’Ran Benton had the chance to go home two weeks ago for a private workout with the Dallas Cowboys.

“That was a good feeling to be recognized and be seen by ‘America’s Team,’” Benton said. “It’s the team that I grew up watching, and probably in the next two or three weeks, I could find out that I’ll be going to camp with them.”

Benton, a native of Arlington, Texas, worked out along with 13 other defensive back prospects on the field at Cowboys Stadium in front of team owner Jerry Jones, other team personnel and even his parents, who were allowed to view the workout and tour the $1 billion facility.

“It’s so big that I couldn’t really understand why a stadium had to be that big,” Benton said. “It just had me amazed, but it was a business trip, so I couldn’t be all struck down and all that. I had to get down to business because I want to be in this profession for a couple years.”

Named an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection by The Associated Press last season, Benton competed in the workout that included former Big 12 defensive backs Jamell Fleming of Oklahoma, Christian Scott from Texas and Missouri’s Kenji Jackson.

The opportunity to work out alongside a group of talented prospects and be guided through those workouts by Cowboys’ coaches were both valuable to the 6-foot, 208-pound prospect.

“It’s something that I’m just going to take and run with it for the rest of this experience I’m going through right now,” Benton said.

With only eight days until the first day of the NFL draft, Benton does not have any other workouts with NFL teams scheduled.

However, he is hopeful that the workout in Dallas — and the twice-daily workouts he and ISU teammate Leonard Johnson have committed to since competing at ISU pro day on March 20 — will have him ready to battle for a spot on a NFL roster.

“Everything that I did [in Dallas], I was ready for it because I was doing workouts to the highest level that Leonard and I have doing since the pro day,” Benton said.

Benton and Johnson are among a group of nine former ISU players who have stayed in Ames since the Pinstripe Bowl to prepare for an opportunity to play professionally.

“They’re fun guys to be around,” said defensive back Deon Broomfield. “Just to have them there for advice on things, especially Leonard talking about the next level and giving guys advice on how to go different routes on that, it’s good to have them still around for the time being.”

The secondary tandem’s workouts have changed since completing their pro day tests, but their goals have remained the same.

“We feel like somebody is working, so if we don’t feel like we are working, then somebody else is getting better than us and we don’t want that,” Benton said. “We want to get into [preseason] camp letting people know that we’ve been working and that we’ve been trying to get into this profession for a long time and we just love this game.”

In his first year starting at strong safety, Benton led the Cyclones with three interceptions last season, but he said he needs to develop his ability to read pass plays versus run plays, be lower in and stay in his backpedal and improve his coverage skills across the middle of the field.

While Benton did see snaps at cornerback early in his college career, he’s been told by scouts that he projects as either a nickelback or safety in the pros.

“I pretty much think I’m a good nickelback, but I want to learn how to play safety also so even if there’s no nickel package on the field, I can still play safety,” Benton said.

While Benton believes Johnson, who is projected to be a mid-round selection, is “the best cornerback in the draft,” Benton himself is thought by many as a player who will have to enter the league as an undrafted free agent.

Although, the 2011 ISU co-captain has confidence in his versatility in the secondary and his “all in” attitude will give him the chance to make an NFL squad.

“I’m confident I’m going to make a camp and I’m confident that wherever I go, I’m going to stay on the team and not going to make anyone regret picking me up for their team if I don’t get drafted,” Benton said.

The NFL draft begins with the first-round selections on April 26, continues with rounds two and three on April 27 and the fourth through seventh rounds on April 28.