i tend to agree, they're both not utterly awful, they're just not man united good. if they went to a mid table team, people would probably view them as better players. still haven't really seen enough of smalling but his as well as jones' transfer fee (same with glenn johnson probably) i believe gets them the nudge over players of a similar ability, as well as their club.
jones is a good option for versatility, same as milner, you need these type of players in a world cup squad who you can rely on. they'll always have their critics though because they don't seem like an exciting player, but give me the not so flashy and reliable phil jones over eratic non-defenders like johnson and walker any day of the week.