propman were people saying the same thing about Darnold before the season started?
If I remember correctly, it was a bit different with Darnold - this is a guy who has all of the physical traits to be a top-end quarterback (and usually made a handful of plays per game that only a few QBs are capable of), but made too many mental mistakes and drive-killing plays. He did look better in the limited action that he saw in San Francisco, but a game and a bit of decent play was never going to override several years of sub-standard production. There were very good reasons that he got backup-level money for this year, even with that untapped potential.
Jones doesn't have the potential upside of Darnold (or Zach Wilson, Trey Lance or Justin Fields) because he's more limited physically - he has enough of an arm to be a viable QB, and enough mobility to alleviate some pressure, but no more than that. Could he be a decent starting QB in the future? It's possible, but that probably needs him to end up in a good situation (like Darnold found with the Vikings), and even then the absolute best case scenario is probably Brock Purdy/Tua Tagovailoa-level performance, i.e. maybe the 12th best QB in the league. My guess, though, is that Jones ends up being a high-end backup for a long time - something along the lines of the careers of Chase Daniel or Case Keenum?
Darnold has hit pretty close to his best case scenario this season - if he's able to maintain this level (and that may require staying with the Vikings - it's hard to see Darnold maintaining this level in a less ideal situation, e.g. signing with the Giants or Raiders), there's a case to be made that he'll be seen as a top-10 QB in a couple of years.