I have not heard of crappies eating pellets but it may be true. I have always fed pellets twice a day because I'm only a mile away and I am there every day. This past year I bought 2 feeders and fed Aquamax MVP twice a day. I really do like the MVP. There are several sizes of pellets and some smaller ones will sink. I now have quite a large number of LMB that will eat pellets that were raised here. I think the sinking makes non feed trained fish feel more comfortable to eat pellets and smaller BG feel safer if they are not on top of the water. Just my observations in watching them each day. CC are not shy feeders either. Maybe the crappies would eat some sinking but I do not see them near the top. Good luck, this is a blast.
