There is way too much Laxus fanboying... haven't you seen that scrub recently? Can't even open both his eyes (multiple panels)
Jellal's Grand Chariot was fairly potent compared to other times he's used it in the series. Given we know he as at least 3 spells stronger than it I think the comparison to Laxus is fair. We need to see Jellal fight for real before saying for sure, and he might end up being definitely stronger. I think it's fair to give him hype because of his very possible match with Zeref, in the same way we know Natsu/Gray will have bigger fights to come as well. That's not to say Jellal's a Zeref tier.
Laxus still has reasonable hype left too, given his only DS move since the timeskip we've seen was against Hades. He's had a few panels where protecting the guild is his pledge, so if Hiro follows through with that it'd probably equate to more than killing Wahl.
Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if Jellal and Laxus are close to/at the level of August.
As for pre-skip portrayals, I don't see the reason to follow them like a bible. The power difference is simply so great that it only matters if you're strong now, not if you're strong before. The GoI/Jura/Bluenote are testament to pre-skip portrayals vs X792 relevance.