JQ Adams became the image of a political creature who meandered his way through the system to the detriment of his good character. Really, I think he and Jackson were natural partners that should have worked together to defeat the menace of people like Clay, Crawford, and most especially Calhoun.
Although JQA briefly courted Jackson as a possible running mate in 24 and seems to not have had that initial gut-level disdain which Clay developed for Jackson, I can't see Jackson and Adams ever working together successfully. Their personalities were far too divergent and, even more important, their views of the country were radically different. Adams could work together with Clay because they both envisioned something similar to the American Plan. Adams wanted internal improvements to help facilitate communication and travel, a national university system and museum to help educate American citizens, a bloody national astronomical observatory(!!!). He was staunchly opposed to slavery and became a more vocal abolitionist as he got older. Jackson enjoyed getting into duels and shooting people in his spare time.
I really can't even begin to think where you get the idea of Adams as a "political creature who meandered his way through the system to the detriment of his good character" unless its taken from too much Jacksonian propaganda from '28. This is a man who was nearly censured by the House of Representatives a number of times because of his vocal oppositions of that body to silencing abolitionists. He took the Amistad Case when few others wanted to touch it. He was a political creature in so far as he dedicated his life to public and governmental service, but he rarely compromised his ideals - and on those few cases where he did slip up, they stand out all the more, because it was unusual for him.
Henry Clay plays second fiddle to no man. I am heavily biased against him and may not be seeing things clearly, sorry.
I will agree that Clay would have problems playing Second Fiddle to anyone (well, save for when he did - he actually was a pretty successful Secretary of State for Adams). I can't say he's my favorite figure of that time but, and here I'm going to reveal my own heavy bias, he was certainly preferable to Andrew Jackson.