Born in Houston, Tinker became interested in theatre during middle school. He later attended the High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, where he also continued his activities in theater. He graduated as class salutatorian from NBCA Academy. Tinker received a full academic scholarship to the University of Texas at Arlington, where he studied English.
Tinker joined the cast of Friday Night Lights in September 2009 playing Dallas Tinker, a small town football player. He had initially gone to the shoot to support two of his friends who had landed work as extras on the show, taking the bus with them from Houston to Austin. He met the show's executive producer, Peter Berg, who was directing the episode being filmed, and unexpectedly found himself acting in a scene with two of the show's regulars. The series was filmed using three cameras, without rehearsal and without extensive blocking, and Tinker later recalled, "It was cameras up, let's go. I did it, and he liked it." Two days later, the plans for the show's fourth season were being adjusted to include a new character, Dallas. He was a recurring character for that season, and for the final, fifth one.
In August 2010, Tinker signed on for the second season of the ABC comedy Cougar Town as a recurring character named Kevin. He portrays the college roommate of Travis Cobb (Dan Byrd), the son of series protagonist Jules Cobb (Courteney Cox). Travis is on a mission to reinvent himself now that he's in college, but his roommate Kevin is not as welcoming as he had hoped, though the two warm up to each other eventually.

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