Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers spotlight: Meet Devon Pinto, surf instructor

Will surfing instructor Devon Pinto turn out to be the next great Survivor castaway? He’s confident in his skills. Yet, we also don’t think he is overly threatening in a way that some alpha-males are. Often, the surfer-bro personality tends to do fairly well on this show. So long as they have their head in the game on some level, they’re an asset to keep around and not a terrible nuisance around camp.

For the sake of this CarterMatt castaway spotlight, the main goal is seeing how Devon compares to some of the other similar people we’ve seen on the show over the years in this role. There are some ways that he stands out.

Age – 23.

Location – Solana Beach, California. He’s from the San Diego area, and continues to spend his time there. We get that, given that if we were in his shoes, we wouldn’t want to leave that area, either.

Bio – Despite being pretty young, this guy has done a lot of different stuff in his life. He’s got a college degree, he has a real estate license, but right now he’s a surf instructor trying to pay the bills doing stuff that he loves. He also wants to start an after-school program to help kids in need. He has a laid-back attitude, but at the same time his goals are a little more determined than he would let on.

Past Survivor comparison – We do think that Jay from Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X or Fabio from Nicaragua are worthy comparisons. Both of these guys were young, athletic, and were deeper in the game than they let on. The big difference was that Jay was probably too overtly a threat, whereas Fabio was under the radar long enough where he could win his way to the end.

Strengths – Who would want to get read of Devon? We have a hard time seeing it right away just because he does seem incredibly chill and will work hard for the Hustlers at their camp. (Hence, the name.) We also do like his strategy to play up his surfer-boy skills and persona; we don’t think that he’s desperate to show anyone that he is something more than an archetype.

Weaknesses – One of the biggest issues that Devon has to deal with over the course of the game will be trying to find a way to show that killer instinct, while not presenting himself as a threat. He’s probably not the sort of player who will make it to the end without winning challenges, and if he does present the surfer-boy image for too long, some people may actually start to believe it.

One other thing we’re worried about is via his bio is that he seems to really believe that he’s lovable. You don’t want to buy into your own hype too much.

Pre-show prediction – Devon seems like a cool guy, and we think people will like him. (His bio is pretty on-point there.) However, we do think in general that these athletic, young surfer-guys have a real time winning, even if they do make it really far. The best thing he can hope for is that he gets to the final seven or so, and then win out. Otherwise, he’s too big of a threat after the merge.

How well do you think that Devon Pinto is going to do on Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers? Let us know in the comments below!

Also, click here to see some of our other CarterMatt spotlights on this season. You can get more between now and the start of the season by also visiting our Facebook. (Photo: CBS.)